Been So Long
by PurpleRain012
Summary: AU: He left five years ago without giving a reason, now he's back. He's not the only one with a secret.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone you may be familiar with.**

**I don't like using real names but I will be using Adam because I have a problem with using Edge as I find it weird. Anyways...**

* * *

*Present Time- September 2012*

Adam Copeland was back in Tampa, Florida after he left the city five years ago. That wasn't the only thing he left behind. He sighed as he thought about her. He knew she had questions she deserved the answers to since he did leave without telling her, he left the cowards way in the middle of the night. He shook his head as he thought about the wrong way he handled that. He knew she had questions, she called for months, but he never answered her calls and she never left any messages. And then the calls stopped, she probably got tired of trying to contact him when she wasn't getting anywhere with it. He didn't plan to see her yet but he couldn't stop thinking about her. He pulled over to a nearby gas station and pulled out his cell phone to call his best-friend, Christian Reso. He was sure Christian knew where the red-head lived because his wife, Dawn Marie Reso, was best-friends with the woman.

"Hey," Christian answered the phone.

"Hi," Adam replied.

"You here yet?"

"Yea, just got here an hour ago. I was on my way to your place, but... I can't stop thinking about her." Christian immediately knew who he was talking about. He didn't know what to say so he just stayed quiet. "I wanted to see her but I don't know where to find her. Could you-"

"Just stop right there," Christian interrupted him. "You know I can't do that. If Dawn finds out, she'll kill me. You know that. She still kind of sort of hates you."

He nodded even though Christian couldn't see him. "I know. But I really need to see Lita."

Christian shook his head. "I really can't do that." He saw how heart broken and lost the red-headed woman was when the blonde man left her without any explanation. Adam was like his brother, but he didn't know if he could tell him where she was. There was too much he kept from his friend, who he knew would be angry about. But it wasn't his place to tell Adam anything about Lita especially when she specifically asked him not to.

"Please. I need to see her. I need to see how she's doing."

"She's good. Now you know."

Adam rolled his eyes. "No. I need to see her. I need to see she's doing good as you say she is."

"Sorry. But, I can't. I know she doesn't want to see you. And like I sai-"

"Damn it Christian," Adam said as he pounded his fist on the steering wheel. "Just... does she still live in the same place?"

"No," he answered after a few seconds of silence. "Look, I don't think it's the best idea to see her right now." _Especially since you'll get pissed off when you find out the truth. _"I know she's not ready for it."

"Well, she might never be. I just want to explain myself. Neither you nor Dawn told her anything, did you?"

"No we didn't. Dawn actually agreed that it's your thing to tell her."

"That's a first," Adam muttered. under his breath that didn't go unheard from the other man who just chose to ignore him. "So can you just tell me please. I really need to see her. Like I said, she might never be ready to see me, but it is going to happen, so why not now?"

_I can think of multiple reasons. _Christian thought about it seriously for a bit before he actually answered his friend. "You're right. But there is some thing you don't know about her."

"Like what?"

"I can't tell you. I promised her I wouldn't tell you."

Adam shrugged. "Well, I want to explain myself now. And if she needs to tell me something, then she can just tell me then too."

Christian didn't know what to do, he knew Adam wouldn't leave him, but he did promise Lita he wouldn't tell his best-friend anything. He was kind of stuck in the middle. But he knew Adam was right, she probably wouldn't be ready anytime soon to talk to him and he knew the two were most likely going to meet one way or another now that he was back. "Look, I can't tell you. I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Whatever. She probably does live in the same place. I'll just check there and if she's not there, I'll just check somewhere else. Thanks for nothing."

"Don't-" Christian started to say but then heard the dial tone at the other end. Edge hung up on him. He was about to go see the woman he left five years ago. "Damn it."

"What's wrong?" His wife asked from behind him. "Who was that?"

"Adam."

"Oh. Shouldn't he be here by now?" Dawn tried to be civil with Adam even though she hated him for what he did to her best-friend.

"He's going to make a quick stop first."

"Where?" Dawn asked confused. "He hasn't kept in touch with anyone here except us. He doe... No," she said as realization set in. "He can't. He better not. I have to call her." She started to make her way back out of the room so she could go call her friend.

"No," he stopped her. "You can't. Just let it happen."

"How can you say that? He hurt her! He'll flip out on her when he finds out the truth. She doesn't deserve that. I mean, I know she didn't tell him, but that's his own fault."

Christian nodded. "I know. But we kept our promises to the both of them for a long time. We should just let them handle this now. They're going to have to one day. The sooner the better."

"But what if he-"

"He won't."

"Well, I didn't think he would leave her like he did, but I was wrong."

"Just don't call her, okay? They're adults. They need to handle this themselves. We'll help only if it's needed but they really need to handle this themselves."

"Fine," Dawn reluctantly agreed. "But I have every right to kick his ass if he hurts her again."

* * *

"Ethan." The red-head called out as she made her way to the living room from the kitchen of the apartment she lived in. "Bed time. Pick up your toys," she handed him a cup of milk which he unwillingly accepted. "Milk first."

"No. I don't wanna sleep," the little boy pouted.

"It's eight o'clock, you have to sleep. Drink that milk, I didn't give it to you so you could hold it."

"Mommy. I don't wanna," he continued to pout.

_He looks just like his father when he does that_, she thought and then shook those thoughts from her head, she really didn't want to think about him right now. "Ethan. Drink the milk, pick up your toys, brush your teeth, and change into your pajamas. It's time for sleep. No arguing or you don't get a bed time story."

"Okay mommy," the little boy said before drinking the milk and doing the other things she told him too.

"Good night," she said kissing his forehead after she read him a bedtime story and tucked him in.

"Good night mommy. I love you."

"I love you too," Lita smiled and left, turning the light off and closing the door but leaving it slightly open. It hurt her how much he reminded her of his father daily. He looked just like his father except for the fact he had his mothers hazel eyes. She hated that but it wasn't Ethan's fault, he was biologically half his. She tried to forget about Ethan's father and decided to watch a horror film Dawn suggested her to watch which was now a perfect time for since Ethan was sleeping and it was Saturday tomorrow. Work and taking care of stuff at home as well as Ethan had her tired, so the movie was a relaxing choice for her especially since she didn't want to sleep just yet.

The red-head was curled up on the couch watching the movie about half an hour later when she suddenly heard a knock on the door which made her flinch as she was frightened by the random knocking, even though she wouldn't admit it was fright, she would argue it was out of surprise. She paused the movie, got up from the couch, and walked towards the door. She opened the door without looking through the peephole to see who it was, even though she probably should have done that, and saw the last person she was expecting. Someone she hadn't seen for five years.

"Hi," he said after a moment of silence.

"What are you doing here?" She asked after she got over her initial shock. "Why are you here?"

"Can I come in first? We need to talk."

She shook her head. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Please. I just want to tell you-"

"Why you left?" She interrupted him still not letting him enter her home. "It's been five years. I don't care anymore." _That's a lie_, she thought. "I don't want to see or talk to you. Just leave me alone." She tried shutting the door but he wouldn't let her when he put his foot in the door. She was about to say something until she heard a voice from right behind her.

"Mommy. I'm scared. I had a bad dream."

Adam's eyes widened in shock and confusion. Lita has a son? Since when? Is this what Christian meant by when he said she was good? Did she move on? Was she in a relationship with someone? Is this what he meant by when he said there was something Adam didn't know about? What was going on? "Is... who... what-"

"Okay sweety," Lita started to say ignoring Adam, "Just give mommy a minute and I'll be there with you okay." The little boy nodded and left.

"Who is that?" Adam asked which made Lita turn around and face him.

"My son," she answered truthfully.

"How old is he?" Adam thought the little boy looked like he was around four years.

"That is none of your concern."

"It is if-"

"No." Lita shook her head. "You're not his father if that's what you're wondering. But you are his sperm donor. Big difference between the two." She saw how shocked Adam was, but she didn't care. "I have to go. MY son needs me. I would say it was nice seeing you, but that would be a lie. " She shut the door on him. He stood there shocked, trying to take in everything he learned. He had a son he didn't know about. Why didn't she tell him?

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**Thanks for reading. Yay or nay? Do we like it?**

**There will be multiple flashbacks throughout the story that will give a glimpse at Adam and Lita's relationship before he left and some that will explain what happened in the past five years and why he left.**

**Um, this isn't too important but ages, let's pretend in present time Adam and Christian are 33 and Lita and Dawn are 31.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The flashbacks will be ****_italicized_**** and the present time will be normal. Thoughts are also italicized when it's present time.**

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_*Flashback- August 2007*_

_Adam was waiting for the red-head next to him to fall asleep and made sure she wouldn't wake up before he made his move. He didn't want to do this, but he felt like he had to. He loved her so much which was why he was doing this; it was only for her own good. Maybe she would end up hating him if he left without telling her anything, it seemed like the easiest way. He felt horrible about this, but he just kept thinking he was doing this for her, as twisted as that sounded. He finally teared his gaze away from her and slowly and quietly got up from the bed. "I love you," he whispered one last time before gently kissing her forehead and leaving. He hated himself for this, but he would do anything for her._

_Lita woke up the next day frowning in confusion at the empty side of the bed. Adam was there the night before, but he wasn't now. Maybe he woke up before her and was in another room. She looked around for him, but didn't see him. It's not like her apartment was big so she assumed he might have just left. But she found that a bit weird, he never left without telling her when he spent the night. It's not like it was a weekday and had work, she was confused as to where he could be. He didn't leave her a note to tell her about his absence like he usually did if he had to leave before she woke up. She decided to call him, but he didn't answer his phone and she became worried. She called him again, no answer. She called him at his apartment, but no answer there either. She started to get worried, what if he was hurt? She wanted to call Christian and ask him if he knew where Adam was, but she saw it was eight in the morning and didn't want to disturb him or Dawn in case they were sleeping. She kept trying to call Adam again, but there was still no answer and she couldn't wait anymore and decided to call Christian._

_"Hello?" Christian answered the phone. He didn't sound sleepy, so she probably didn't wake him up._

_"Do you know where Adam is? I woke up and he wasn't here. I keep calling him, but he won't pick up his phone. I'm worried. What if something happened?" She spit it out a bit quickly but Christian understood everything she said._

_That idiot, Christian thought, he did it without telling her. "I don't know where he is," he lied even though he knew where his friend was. He wanted to hurt him, he told him not to do it, but he still did. "How about I try to call him and you can try and calm down? I'm sure he's okay."_

_"And you'll tell me when you find out?"_

_He didn't want to lie, but he knew he couldn't tell her the truth either, he did promise Adam after all. "Yes."_

_"Thanks. I guess I'll talk to you later then." He could hear her voice crack and her sniffling which made him feel worse._

_He sighed when he hung up the phone. He could hear the anxiety in her voice. He knew why Adam was doing this, but he didn't agree with him at all, this was not the way to solve anything. He just hoped Adam would answer his call and listen to him that he still had a chance to go back and just ignore what happened and tell her everything._

_"I'm guessing she called you?" Adam answered the phone._

_"Yes, what the hell is wrong with you?! I told you not to do that. She sounds like she's been crying because she's worried about you. She thinks something horrible has happened."_

_"Well, it has."_

_"Shut up. That's not what I'm talking about, you obviously didn't tell her."_

_Adam sighed. "I can't."_

_Adam was stubborn and Christian knew it. There was no way he could convince him to go back and tell her. He was probably on his way to where he was going. "What am I supposed to tell her? I told her I would try calling you, I thought I could talk some sense into you, but clearly I can't."_

_Adam rolled his eyes as he continued to drive his car to his destination. "Don't tell Dawn either, we know how she has a big mouth. Anyways, I'm getting another phone and changing my number when I get there so I'll tell you then."_

_"Whatever. I know you have to go, but you should have asked her to go with you or at least told her what the hell is going on. Tell me when you get there. Bye." He was about to hang up the phone until he heard Adam on the other end._

_"Wait. Just... please look after for her."_

_Christian took a while before he answered his friend. "I will. But, that's not going to do anything. She needs you. She loves you."_

_"What she needs to do is hate me when-"_

_"Don't say that,"Christian interrupted him. "Nothing's going to happen. You're making a huge mistake."_

_"Thanks for the support," Adam said sarcastically as he hung up the phone. Christian groaned in frustration, he knew Adam thought he was doing what he was doing for the red-head, but he didn't agree with it at all. He just hoped Adam wouldn't regret what he thought was the biggest mistake Adam had ever made. He decided to call Lita and tell her he couldn't get a hold of Adam either. He knew he had to tell her something later, she wasn't stupid, she would figure something was going on soon. He couldn't tell her the truth, but he didn't know what he would tell her._

* * *

_Lita was outside of Adam's apartment knocking on his door for the past few minutes after she decided to go there and see if he was there when Christian told her he couldn't get in contact with him either._

_"He left, just this morning actually," a voice said from behind her._

_"What?" She asked around when she turned around to face the man who spoke up._

_"You're looking for Adam right?" She nodded and he continued. "Yea, I saw him leave with most of his stuff at five in the morning."_

_"That doesn't mean he left."_

_"The apartment has been up for rent for a couple of days now. Sorry," the man then entered the apartment next to Adam's previous apartment. This didn't make sense to her, why would Adam move without telling her. Where did he go? Why wouldn't he tell her? She thought of her previous conversation with Christian and thought how he probably knew something but he wasn't telling her anything. She tried to pull herself together, then went to his house to confront him. He wasn't that good of a liar so she thought she could get something out of him in person._

* * *

_Shit, Christian thought when he opened the door and saw Lita. He knew why she was here, he didn't believe a word he told her and was here to confront him. "Hey," he was about to say more until she interrupted him._

_"Where the hell is Adam?!" Lita yelled as she entered his and Dawn's house. She was angry._

_"I don't-"'_

_"Cut the bullshit! Stop lying!" She said glaring at him. "His neighbor told me he saw him leave him apartment early in the morning at five and that apartment has been up for rent the past couple of days! Where did he go?!"_

_Mhm, she knew. Sort of. He sighed as he thought he couldn't really hide the fact that he actually knew something. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you."_

_"And why the hell not!?" Her voice was actually rising even more. He felt like she would start hitting him some time soon. She frightened him when she was angry._

_"I promised him."_

_She laughed humorlessly. "Are you fucking kidding me?! He planned this?! He told you?! What the hell?!"_

_"What the hell is going on?" Dawn asked when she made her way to the doorway where the other two were. "Li? What are you doing here? Why are you yelling? What's wrong? Don't you want to move from there? We can go in the living room."_

_The two ignored her and continued on their conversation. "Look, all I can say is that he went to another state, can't tell you why. But trust me, I tried stopping him."_

_"Who went to another state? Who are you talking about?" Dawn asked confused, she was still ignored._

_"Great job with that!" She started to break down into tears right after that. "Don't come near me," she said as she saw Christian coming towards he to comfort her. "Does he hate me that much that he had to leave in the middle of the night without telling me?"_

_"Quite the opposite actually," he began to say then stopped himself. He didn't know what else to say. He couldn't really say much without saying anything._

_"What the hell is going on?" Dawn asked yet again._

_Lita looked up at her friend trying to control herself. Why was she wasting her time crying over Adam when he didn't even care for her? "Ask your husband," she began to say wiping her tears away, "because I really don't know." She then turned her attention to Christian. "Thanks for nothing. I thought you were my friend, I guess not." Christian didn't know what to say, it was like he was stuck in the middle. He wanted to tell Lita because he really thought Adam was making a huge mistake, but at the same time he promised Adam he wouldn't say anything._

_"I'm sorry," and he truly was. Lita just shook her head and turned around to leave, her hand on the doorknob before Christian spoke up again. "Don't go. You probably shouldn't be driv-"_

_"Don't act like you care," she interrupted stopping in her place, but not turning around to face him. "If you did, you would tell me what's going on. But you don't."_

_"Li, pl-"_

_"No Dawn. Just leave me alone." And with that said, she left._

_*End of Flashback*_

* * *

*Present Time*

"And there were two monsters," Ethan said finishing his story about his bad dream which his mother wasn't paying attention to, she couldn't stop thinking about Adam.

"Mommy checked, there are no monsters in here."

"You promise?"

Lita smiled at him. "I promise. Go to sleep now okay. I will stay with you."

"Who was that at the door?"

Lita felt her heart stop when Ethan asked her that. She was hoping he wouldn't bring that up. What was she supposed to say? "That was your Uncle Christian's friend," she decided to tell half the truth. It's not like she was lying, she just wasn't saying the truth. This was hardly the time to have a conversation about Adam.

"Why was he here?"

_Crap, what am I supposed to say now? _"He needed something." She didn't stop right there, she didn't want him to ask another question. "Let's go to sleep now. Mommy's tired too."

"Okay. Good night." Ethan closed his eyes to go to sleep and he was asleep within a couple of minutes. Lita, on the other hand, knew she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. She couldn't help but think about Adam and why he was back again. She wanted to know why he came to her home today. A part of he wanted to know why he left, but at the same time, she didn't care. She hated him, or at least she tried to. It had been five years and she tried to forget about him, but she couldn't because Ethan was always a reminder of him, he looked just like Adam. She didn't know how she was supposed to explain any of this to Ethan. He started to ask her about his father just two weeks ago when he started preschool. He wanted to know why everyone had a father except for him. She was at a loss for words, she didn't know what to say. Luckily for her, she didn't have to say anything because the phone rang and she went to answer it, and by the time she got off the phone, Ethan forgot all about his question and was playing with his toys. She felt horrible for not telling him anything about Adam, but she really didn't know what to say to him. And now that Adam was back, it complicated things even more.

* * *

Adam had been sitting in his car outside of Christian's house for the past few minutes. He was angry. He couldn't believe his friend didn't tell him anything about him having a son. He was his best-friend after all, he was supposed to tell him something like this. He realized he was just going to get even more angry than he already was so he might as well just get out of his car and ask his so called best-friend some questions. He rang the doorbell and within seconds, Dawn opened the door for him. He saw her frown and then immediately smile, a fake smile he could tell.

"Hi Adam," she always tried being civil with him. "Welcome back." _After five years. Leaving my best-friend by herself. To take care of YOUR son. _She really wanted to say those words out loud, but decided not to.

"Hey," he said as he followed her into the house and into the living room. He looked around for Christian and saw him sitting on the couch. "I have about a billion questions for you."

Christian looked up and over at Adam. _He knows. Damn it. _"Hello to you too."

"Cut the crap Christian," he said folding his arms across his chest, glaring at his friend, he was definitely very angry right now. "Why didn't you tell me that I have a son?"

Christian sighed as he stood up facing towards Adam. "I promised Li-"

"I don't care what you promised her! This is something I should have known! You should have told me!"

"Kind of like how Li didn't care what he promised you but you made sure he wouldn't tell her why you left." Yup, Dawn was done trying to be civil. "You didn't deserve to know. You left her, you wouldn't answer her calls. How the hell was she supposed to tell you?"

"I was still answering Christian's calls," Adam said still glaring at Christian.

"Damn it Adam!" Dawn finally exploded. "This is your own damn fault! Don't come here and blame Christian for this! And you sure as hell better not blame Li for any of this. Yes, she should have told you, but you weren't answering her calls, therefore you didn't deserve to know!"

"Okay, you two yelling isn't going to do anything except wake up Brooke," Christian said referring to his and Dawn's two year old daughter.

Dawn took a deep breath. "Okay." She looked over at Adam. "I swear, if you hurt her again, I will kick your ass and then I will kill you." With that being said, she left.

"That wasn't a threat, that was a promise."

Adam nodded. "I know." He then walked over to the couch and took a seat with Christian following suit. "How would you like it if your situation with Dawn was different and she didn't tell you anything about Brooke?"

"I would be angry with her."

"And what if I knew and I didn't tell you anything?"

Christian sighed. "I would be pissed off. I get it, and I do apologize for not telling you. But it was complicated. Her pregnancy wasn't easy, there were a lot of complications and honestly, you coming back into the picture would have caused more problems. She was really angry with you and probably still is."

"I left for her own good."

"Okay, but you didn't tell her. Did you say anything to her about it when you went over there?"

Adam shook his head. "We didn't really have a conversation. She asked why I was there and then I asked her if I could come in. She said no and was about to slam the door in my face but then her... my... our son showed up. And then I tried to ask her if he's mine and she called me his sperm donor. She said I'm not his father, but she didn't even give me that chance. I deserve that much."

"It's her choice."

Adam looked over at Christian a bit bewildered. "No it's not, he's my son. I have every right. If she stops me from getting to know him, I'll just take her to court."

Christian was supposed to say something, but he wasn't given a chance. "You are so fucking stupid for that! You do that and I promise you I'll kill you!" Dawn spoke up coming from the other side of the door that led to the kitchen.

"I thought you left?" Christian asked. He should have known she was around somewhere eavesdropping.

"This is none of your business. This is between me and Lita."

"No you dumbass!" Dawn looked like she was restraining herself from attacking Adam. "It's between you, Lita, and Ethan! She has to think about him first before she makes any decisions so you better not force her! And do you know how it will effect him if you take his mother to court?! You are such a moron!" Dawn groaned when she heard a crying voice coming from another part of the house. "You are so lucky Brooke needs me, otherwise I would probably punch you right now," she said finally leaving, for real this time.

"His name is Ethan?" Adam asked after a couple of minutes after Dawn left.

Christian nodded. "Ethan Alexander Dumas actually." It was quiet again. "Your name is on his birth certificate though, she almost didn't put it on there. I kind of convinced her. So you do have a right to him, but like Dawn said, don't force her. Be patient, it's going to take some time. She's going to have to explain this situation somehow to Ethan first and that's not going to be easy." Adam nodded in agreement. He really wasn't going to take Lita to court, he was just pissed off and that's the first thing that left his mouth. He just hoped she should would hear him out, he wanted to explain everything to her and hoped she would give him a chance being a father to his son. His father was never around so this hit him hard.

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**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews.**

**Any guesses as to why Adam left?**


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you kidding me Dora?" Lita quietly shouted at the television so Ethan wouldn't wake up. She knew he was going to wake up soon, but she didn't want to disturb him and speed up the process because he did wake up another time in the middle of the night due to another nightmare. Plus it gave her more time to continue baking, which she did a lot of when she was stressed. "I said map a billion times. Where's that stupid map?" Yup, she was watching _Dora the Explorer. _She wasn't able to sleep much last night. She guessed she only slept for about an hour, finally falling asleep around three, when Ethan fell asleep after his second nightmare, and waking up around four. She wasn't too fond of the dream she had, it contained a happier moment when her and Adam were together, so she didn't fall back asleep just to avoid another dream like that. She decided to finish watching that scary movie because she knew if she didn't have a distraction, she would start thinking about him again. And then she found herself watching random stuff on the television. Her choices were limited since it was the day time and the weekend, so she opted for Dora. "Are you serious Swiper? You're really going to steal from a... well, however old Dora is supposed to be. She's a little kid."

"Mommy," she heard Ethan giggle. She didn't hear him come out towards the living room and kitchen area. "You're watching Dora. You sound silly."

She sighed as she realized how correct he was. "I know. Did you brush your teeth?" He nodded. _Wow, I must be really out of it if I didn't hear him at all. _"Okay, good." She was about to continue until Ethan interrupted her.

"Can we go see Uncle Christian today?" Ethan asked her.

_Not if Adam's there. _"We'll see."

"Please," Ethan started to plead with her. "I miss him." Ethan formed a close bond with Christian who was always there for him helping Lita with whatever the mother-son duo needed since the day she found out she was pregnant.

"Maybe," She continued to say more when it looked like he was going to say more. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Cookies," he said as he looked over to where Lita had about three dozen cookies on the counter.

She shook her head. "No. You can have one later," she said as she put some cupcakes into the oven to bake.

"Waffles." She nodded as he went off into his room and came back with some crayons and a coloring book and started to color in the living room. She couldn't help it and started to think about Adam again and how she would tell Ethan anything. She knew Adam was going to want to know Ethan and maybe it was time she told Ethan the truth now that Adam was around. But how was she supposed to tell a four year old about a parent he didn't know about who randomly decided showed up one day?

* * *

_*Flashback- July 2007*_

_"Why are you staring at me?" Adam finally asked after he looked over at his girlfriend of a little over two years. The couple had met through their best-friends who had been in a relationship for a couple of years themselves and actually got married two weeks ago. They got along quite well when they met which Dawn knew they would and that was why she set them up._

_Lita arched a brow. "Is that problem?"_

_"No, but it is a tad bit creepy. Every time I look up, you're staring at me."_

_Lita shrugged. "I like the view of you better than the view of Call of Duty," she said referring to the video game he was playing._

_He smirked while sparing a quick glance her way, "Of course you do. I mean, why wouldn't you?"_

_She rolled her eyes as she shifted a bit on the couch. "You just ruined it."_

_"Ruined what?"_

_"I was picturing how our kids would look like." That made him turn his attention away from the game and to her. "You're getting shot at." He then returned his attention back to the game and paused it even though he didn't care about it for the moment._

_"Our kids?" He questioned._

_She nodded. "You don't want kids?"_

_"Well... I mean..." He was nervous. They hardly ever talked about the future even though he knew he wanted a future with her. "We never really talked about it."_

_"I know, but you asked me why I was staring at you and there's your answer."_

_"You think about it often?" He asked as he gazed at her intently. "The future?"_

_She started to bite her lip out of nervousness as she finally realized what they were talking about. "Well, yea. Don't you?"_

_"Yea."_

_"So, when you think about the future, am I in it?" She asked a bit cautiously since she was nervous because she wanted him to say yes, but what if he didn't?_

_He smiled at her. He thought she looked really cute when she was nervous. "Of course."_

_She smiled back. "Good." It quiet for a brief moment. "So you never answered my question. Do you want kids?"_

_"With you. I want everything with you. I know I want to marry you one day. I want kids with you. I want mini Lita and Adam's running around. I want to move with you in a place of our own. I want you to bore me with how we should decorate our own house. I want to get into stupid little fights with you, making up is always fun." He chuckled when he saw her roll her eyes at that part and then continued. "I want to make you happy every day. I want to grow old with you. I want to bother you when you get your first grey hair or your first wrinkle, whichever comes first." She pouted at that, playfully punching him on his arm. "I just want to see you everyday and know that we'll always be there for one another. I love you."_

_She leaned in to give him a quick kiss. "I love you too. I want all of that too. Except for the grey hair and wrinkles."_

_He chuckled as he leaned in and pulled her in for a kiss. "This kids thing," he started to say as they parted, his forehead resting on hers as a smirk started to form on his face, "We should probably practice making them, right?"_

_She rolled her eyes once again as she backed away from her. "You're a dork."_

_"I take that as a yes," he said moving towards her, but she backed away a bit more and then stood up._

_"I don't want to take you away from your game." She teased, trying hard not laugh when she saw the pout on his face, but she failed and burst into laughter._

_"I'm happy I can amuse you."_

_"Me too." She then started to walk away from the living room._

_"Where are you going?" He asked._

_She didn't look behind at him or stop in her tracks, instead she continued walking away. "You said you wanted to practice, so inside the room. Duh. We're not about to practice on the couch."_

_"That hasn't stopped you before." He heard her say something, but he couldn't hear her well since she was already in the other room and wasn't loud. He got up from the couch after he turned the television and the game console off and followed her in. They both were pretty happy right now, enjoying where their relationship seemed to take them. Little did they know, everything would change for the worst soon._

_*End of Flashback*_

* * *

*Present Time*

Adam shook his head as he lay down in bed thinking of happier times. He too wasn't able to sleep much last night like Lita. He thought about the first time they actually had a real conversation about their future and how they both wanted to have children. It hurt him when he thought about how Lita kept Ethan away from him when she knew he wanted children with her. He thought maybe it was his own fault because he left her, but he was doing it for her own good. He was furious with her. He didn't understand why she couldn't have found another way to tell him. She knew how his father was never around and how he would never want that for his own child. Hell, her own father wasn't around much when she was growing up, so he thought she would understand how tough it could be for a child not to have his or her father around.

He asked Christian a lot of questions about his son. He found out Ethan was born six weeks earlier than his original due date which was in the end of April, but he was born on March 7, 2008 which would make him four and a half years. He found out Ethan liked to play soccer and basketball, but Lita didn't want him to join a peewee team quite yet so he just played with Christian and some of his own friends. That made him upset, Ethan should be playing soccer and basketball with him, not with Christian. He was thankful Christian was around for Ethan and Lita, but he became even more upset and angry at Lita when he found out he missed four and a half years of his sons life. He wanted to be a father to his son now that he knew about him. He then thought about his mother and how she always wanted a grandchild and she didn't know anything about him now that she had one. His mother knew about the circumstances concerning his departure from Tampa some years earlier, but she only found out last year. That was one person he told the truth to who he was dreading to tell. He didn't know how he was going to explain any of this to her. He didn't know when Lita would let him be a part of Ethan's life. He knew he had to talk to her and he had to talk to her soon. He didn't want to go another day without getting to know Ethan and being there for him for whatever he needed. But he knew he had to be patient, this information couldn't just be thrown at a little kid. He decided he would try to talk to Lita later that day and tell her that he would have no problem in helping her with telling Ethan about him. He didn't think it was only Lita's responsibility to fill Ethan on who his father is, he should be there too when she told Ethan, but only if she wanted him to.

"Adam, get your lazy ass out of bed. It's ten." He looked up when he saw Christian open the door. He was staying at Christian and Dawn's house until he finally settled down into his own house he purchased not too far from them. The deal wasn't going to be finalized until another week. "I knew you would be awake."

"Yea, I wasn't able to sleep much. Just thinking. I didn't really want to get up."

Christian nodded. "So, are you going to try and talk to her?"

Adam nodded. "I want to get to know Ethan. I don't want to go another day without getting to know him."

"Well, you know you're going to have to be patient with that. She has to tell him first. I don't know when and how she's going to do that. I don't even know if she was planning on telling him anything anytime soon. He asked her about you before a couple of weeks ago."

"What did she say?"

"Well, he first asked your name. She told him your name and then she said she got distracted by a call and when she went back to him, he was busy playing. He gets distracted easily."

Adam was quiet for a moment and then he spoke up. "I want to help her with telling him. I don't want to put the burden all on her."

"Okay. But maybe she'll feel more comfortable telling Ethan herself."

"Probably. But it won't hurt to suggest it."

"I guess not." It was quiet again until the two friends started talking about something else.

Meanwhile downstairs, Dawn was talking on the phone with Lita who decided to call her not too long ago. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you he was coming to your place. I only found out like probably a few minutes before he actually got there."

"Whatever. I don't blame you," Lita said from the other end of the line.

"So, are you going to let Adam to get to know Ethan?"

"Do I have to?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"I don't want to."

"Lita Chr-" Dawn started to say only to be interrupted.

"Okay damn. Don't pull out the full name. I will. I know I have to. You said he's back for good now. Ethan has started to ask questions as you already know. I... I don't know how, but I know I have to tell Ethan who his father is and let them two have a relationship. But I have every right to kill Adam if he does something stupid and Ethan gets negatively effected in any way." It was quiet again for a moment. "Is he with you?"

"Yes. He's staying for a couple of days until he officially gets settled into his house."

"You know one day he told me he wanted to move into a place of our own together and have me bore him with details of how we would decorate our house," Dawn heard the sadness in her friends voice and was about to say something, but Lita continued. "Well Ethan wants to see Christian. So you guys should come over. Without him. I'm not coming over. I don't want to see him right now."

"You know you have to talk to him since you said you will let him and Ethan get to know one another."

"I know. But I don't have to today. That can wait."

"Alright, we'll come over later."

"Great. I'm going to go now. Bye."

"Bye." Dawn hung up the phone and then went to see where Christian was. She went upstairs and saw the guest room door open and decided to go in seeing Christian and Adam talking. "Good morning Adam."

"Good morning," he replied.

"Okay, here's the thing," she started to say. "You really pissed me off with how you handled this whole situation, but I'm going to let it go for Ethan's sake. Li was going to come over today because some monkey wanted to see his Uncle Christian, but she's not coming because she doesn't want to see you."

"But I need to talk to her," Adam interrupted.

Dawn nodded. "I know. Which is why Christian will try to talk some sense into her. I will probably end up joining her in bashing you instead of trying to convince her to talk to you. Don't think I'm doing this for you, I'm doing it for Ethan."

"I know. Thanks," Adam said as Dawn left the room.

"Just give her time. Let her come to you. I'll try to talk her into not taking forever," Christian promised.

* * *

"I'll get it!" Ethan cheerfully exclaimed when he heard a knock on the door. Lita let him answer it since she was right there and she knew it was Dawn and Christian. Dawn sent her a text half an hour ago telling her they would be coming soon to visit. "Where's Uncle Christian?" Ethan pouted when he opened the door and only saw Dawn and Brooke.

"You're not happy to see me or Brooke?" Dawn asked putting Brooke down who ran over to Lita who wasn't far away.

"I see you everyday," he said as Dawn hugged him. "Where is he?"

"He's coming monkey," Dawn said as she entered the apartment and walked over to where Lita and Brooke were playing. "Your son doesn't like me."

Lita rolled her eyes. "He does, he just likes Christian a tad bit more."

"How is that fair?" Dawn pouted as she sat down on the couch. "I'm always with him. I pick him up from preschool. He's always with me then," Dawn said referring to the fact that she looked over Ethan after he got out of preschool. She actually opened up a daycare in her house a few years ago. She used to work in a daycare center, but then decided to open up a private one at her house when Ethan was born because she wanted to help Lita out as much as she could while she went to her own job. There were four more other kids, not including Brooke, that she looked after as well. One of them including a friend of Ethan's from preschool.

"Do you do guy stuff with him?" Christian asked as he finally entered the apartment.

"Uncle Christian!" Ethan exclaimed as he got up from the floor where he was playing with Brooke and ran over to Christian. "I missed you!" Even though he saw Dawn every weekday, he didn't see Christian since he always went back home before Christian came home from work.

Christian chuckled. "I missed you too. You don't come over to see me anymore,"

"That's mommy's fault. She doesn't bring me."

"Well, mommy is a bad girl." Ethan started giggling. "We need to change that."

"My son doesn't like you. I don't like your husband. Let's end this relationship. We need to keep those two away from each other. We can't be friends anymore." Lita said as she looked over at Dawn who simply rolled her eyes.

"No," Ethan whined.

"I was joking sweety." Lita shook her head. "Sometimes I think he loves Christian more than he loves me."

Dawn snorted. "Join the club."

"Someone's been stress baking," Christian said when he noticed the amount of treats on the kitchen counter as he made his way to where the other three were with Ethan at his side.

Lita sighed. "You can blame that-" she stopped herself, she was about to slip and curse in front of Ethan and Brooke. _Not a smart idea_. "Him. Take how much you guys want."

"Ethan," Dawn started to say, "Brooke wanted me to take her to the park. How about you come with us?"

"Is Unlce Christian coming too?"

Dawn shook her head, he really didn't do much without Christian. "No. Just me, you, and Brooke."

"But-"

"Sorry monkey," Christian started to say. "I have to talk to your mommy."

"No you don't." Lita spoke up.

"Yes he does. Hush." Dawn said, then returning her attention to Ethan. "We can get ice cream."

"Yes Dawn. Bribe my son why don't you," Lita said only to be ignored.

Ethan still looked like he was going to protest. "I promise I'll go to the park with you tomorrow and we can play soccer." Christian started to say. "I just have to talk to mommy."

Ethan nodded. "Okay."

"Awesome." Dawn clapped her hands. "Put on your shoes and we'll go." Ethan did just that as Dawn took the moment to say something to her friend. "Just listen to him please. Don't be stubborn."

"Whatever."

"I'm ready." The duo heard Ethan say as he walked towards them again after he put on his shoes.

"Okay." Dawn said as she picked up Brooke and put her own shoes on. "We're just going to go to the park across from here," she told Lita who simply nodded.

"What?" Lita asked annoyed after five minutes of silence after Dawn took the two kids to the park.

"You have to talk to him."

Lita sighed. "I don't want to, but I know."

"So when do you plan on doing that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

He rolled his eyes. "Just do it soon. He wants to talk to you. He wants to get to know Ethan."

Lita nodded. "I know."

"You didn't tell him about Ethan. I know you tried, but he didn't know anything. And you could have let me told him even though I know that's not how you wanted to tell him, but... You never gave him a chance to be Ethan's father. He deserves that. He asked multiple questions about Ethan and how he's like. He really wants a relationship with his son. I know you don't want to do it for Adam, but do it for Ethan. He deserves to get to know his father. He recently started to ask you questions about him, so this is your chance to tell him the truth."

"Trust me, I'm only going to be doing this for Ethan. But I do have to think about how I'm going to say anything to him."

"He wants to help you."

Lita started to bite her lip. "I think it'll be easier if I do it myself. But, I mean, I should probably talk to Adam about this beforehand." She shook her head as she put them down in her heads letting out a breath. "I hate him."_No you don't, _Lita thought to herself but didn't say anything out loud. _I can never hate him no matter how much I try. _"Ugh. Stupid bastard," she muttered under her breath which didn't go unheard by Christian, but he decided to pretend he didn't hear that.

"Just know that I'll punch Adam for you if he does or says something stupid. I'm always going to be there for you and Ethan."

She looked up at him and smiled. "I know. You always have been. Thanks."

"You want to join them at the park?" Christian asked.

"Sure. Let's go."

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews.**

**Hm... Interesting guesses. Promise I will try not to take long to reveal the reason he left.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay," Christian started to say when he got out of the car along with the passenger next to him when they arrived at Lita's apartment that following Friday evening, "I guess you can wait around outside the building until I take Ethan to the movies and then you can go up and talk to Lita. I don't know if he should see you right now. He'll ask questions and I know you two want to talk about it first before Ethan finds out. Just don't say or do anything stupid. You're lucky she agreed to talk to you now instead of waiting another few days."

"I know." Adam nodded when they walked from the parking spot to the apartment building. He had only been back about a week now and Lita finally agreed into talking to him. Obviously she didn't want to talk to him with Ethan around so Christian suggested he take Ethan to see the new _Madagascar_ movie since Ethan always asked Christian to take him. Lita reluctantly agreed knowing that she probably shouldn't wait any longer, they were bound to have the conversation sometime soon, so why not now?

The duo stopped when they made it in front of the building. "I'll be five minutes." Adam nodded with Christian then making his way to the fourth floor where Lita and Ethan lived. He knocked on the door and chuckled when he could hear Ethan inside screaming in excitement 'Uncle Christian is here!' He also heard Lita tell the little boy to calm down and she'll open the door.

"It's only five thirty. How and why are you already here?" Lita asked when she opened the door and let Christian in.

"Well, the movie starts at six and I came right after I picked up our friend."

Lita rolled her eyes at the last part while closing the door behind her. "He is not my friend."

"Yea, only the father of your child," Christian said is hushed tones so that Lita could hear him but Ethan couldn't.

Lita scowled. "Shut up." She then turned her attention to Ethan who was now in front of Christian. "I see you're ready to go now. Go put on your shoes."

"Yes mommy," Ethan answered excitedly and ran off to put his shoes on. He always did like having Christian around.

Lita sighed. "I'm really going to have to separate the two of you one day. I swear, it's like he loves you more than me. He would be happy with just you."

"That would just be cruel if you did that. And you know that's not the truth," Christian said. "We'll be back by eight...ish."

"You're going to leave me alone with him for over two hours?" Lita asked annoyed. "Why couldn't he come in his own car? You did this on purpose. You stranded him without a car so we would have to talk for that long. Have I ever told you how much I hate you?"

Christian shook his head. "Not recently, no."

"Well I hate you. A lot if I may add."

"Mommy, that's mean," Ethan said when he reappeared next to the two. "Say you're sorry."

"You're right," Lita said looking down at her son. "That was mean." She then looked up at Christian and gave him a smile which he knew was fake. "I'm sorry." _... You asshole. _That apology was also fake.

"Thank you." Lita could tell Christian tried his best to bite back the laugh he felt coming and that just made her want to slap him. "Let's go monkey." The two were about to leave until the man turned around to face the woman, "It'll be okay. Just don't start fighting. Try having a decent civil conversation. Just remember who you're doing this for." Lita simply nodded and smiled at the two when they left, shutting the door behind her. She then walked over to a couch taking a seat waiting for Adam to knock on the door within a couple of minutes. She was dreading this, but she knew she had to talk to him. For Ethan.

* * *

_*Flashback- September 2007*_

_Lita couldn't stop crying. She had been crying for the past hour nonstop. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. But she knew she had to. There was a stick on the sink counter telling her she had to believe it. She's pregnant. She knew pregnancy tests could be false positive but she just knew this wasn't wrong. She just knew she was pregnant. Either that or her body was messing with her. She had been feeling like crap the past couple of weeks since Adam had left, so she just assumed it was nothing. But then she couldn't stop puking and she felt tired all the time, she just knew she was pregnant. Life was cruel like that. She did want kids one day, but Adam left her. He obviously didn't want anything to do with her since he did leave her, right?_

_She tried to stop crying, wiping at her wet face as she got up from the bathroom ground where she was sitting leaning against the tub. What was she going to do? She couldn't even get a hold of Adam when she tried his phone getting a message that the phone was out of service. He probably changed his number so she wouldn't bother him. She hadn't even talked to Christian since that day she confronted him when Adam left. So she didn't know anything about Adam, not that Christian told her anything the last time she actually talked to him. She started to wonder if Christian would give her the whereabouts of Adam if she told him what was going on. Would Adam even care? All she knew was she had to somehow get in touch with him because this was something he had to know, she couldn't keep this away from him. She tried to pull herself together long enough so she could go over to Dawn and Christian's place so she could talk to Dawn about this and possibly get some contact information from Christian._

* * *

_Dawn was pretty pissed off the past two or so weeks. Christian didn't tell her anything about Adam either. She was confused about that situation because not long ago, Adam and Lita looked pretty happy together. She even thought the former couple were going to take the next step within the next year. Apparently, she was wrong. She shook her head as she thought about this whole mess, it just made her hate Adam. She didn't understand how and why he would do this. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the doorbell. She put the laundry she was correctly folding down and went upstairs from the laundry room in her house to the middle floor so she could open the door. She didn't know where in the house Christian was, so she didn't know if he would answer the door or not._

_She was surprised when she opened the door and saw a certain red-head. "Hey Li," she greeted her friend who just stood there looking at the ground. She hadn't seen Lita since the last time her friend was arguing with her husband. Lita had been avoiding her the last couple of weeks. Well, she was more so avoiding Christian. "Li, what's wrong?" Dawn asked when Lita didn't say anything and continued to look at the ground. But the pregnant woman finally looked up at Dawn and immediately started to cry once again. "Li what's wrong?" Dawn repeated once again taking her friend in her arms for a hug. "What's going on? What happened?" Lita still didn't say anything as she continued to cry. Dawn moved her a little more into the house, then closed the door behind her. She then started to lead Lita into the living room without letting her go. They finally sat down on the couch with Lita still leaning against Dawn and crying. Dawn was sort of confused, she had no idea what was going on even though she knew it had something to do with Adam. "Li, when you're ready, I'm here. Okay?" She felt Lita nod against her shoulder._

_Christian entered the living room a couple of minutes later wondering who it was that rang the doorbell not to long ago. He got his answer when he saw his wife and her best-friend on the couch. Her best-friend who was probably still pissed off at him. He could see she was crying and Dawn was trying to comfort her, so he decided to leave the room, not wanting to interrupt them. But then Lita decided she finally wanted to say something, the next words coming out of her mouth made him freeze in place after he turned around to leave. "I'm pregnant," she quietly said with her sobs getting calm, but it was still loud enough for Christian to hear._

_It was quiet for a moment with Christian still frozen, but he had managed to turn around so that he was facing the two on the couch, then Dawn spoke up looking at Lita who finally backed away from the brunette. "That's good news right? Why are you crying?" She knew the answer to both questions, but she didn't know what else to say._

_Lita put her head in her hands closing her eyes for a moment. "He's not here Dawn. He just left me. I don't know how to get a hold of him. He changed his number. I don't know where he went. What am I supposed to do?"_

_"Well, how far along are you?" Dawn wanted to know._

_"I don't know," Lita said dropping her hands from her head and lifting her head so she was finally looking back up at Dawn. "I just took the test not too long ago."_

_"It could be a false positive."_

_Lita shook her head. "I don't think it is. Unless my body and brain are messing with me, I'm pregnant."_

_"When are you going to go to the doctors?"_

_"I managed to make an appointment with her tomorrow. Will you come with me?"_

_Dawn smiled at her. "Of course."_

_Lita finally decided to acknowledge Christian's presence. The two women knew he was there, they just didn't say anything. "Look, I know he probably told you not to tell me anything or give me his contact information, but this is something I feel he should know. I know his dad was never around so I'm pretty sure he won't abandon his child even though he hates me."_

_He doesn't hate you, Christian thought but said something else out loud. "Okay. I can just give you his number."_

_"Are you kidding?!" Dawn started to say getting completely frustrated with this. "This isn't something she should have to tell him on the phone! I mean, I guess it depends where he's actually at. But seriously Christian. You can't give her more than that?!"_

_Christian shook his head. "I'm sorry." And he really was. He wanted to tell her more. He really did, but he made a promise and he was going to keep that promise. "How about I tell-"_

_"No!" Lita exclaimed getting up off from the couch and walking towards Christian, finally stopping in front of him. "This isn't your thing to tell him. It's mine."_

_"Okay okay. I know. You're right. I just... I really don't think he's going to answer your call," he said truthfully. Maybe if Lita let him say anything to Adam, then Adam would actually answer her call and talk to her. He knew if Adam would talk to Lita if he knew she was pregnant. But apparently the red-head wanted to tell him herself._

_"Whatever. But I still have to try. I have to tell him. He left me, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to know." Christian nodded as he proceeded to give Lita his friends new number._

* * *

_It had been a week since Lita got it confirmed from her doctor that she was pregnant. She had tried calling Adam multiple times, but he never answered the phone. This wasn't even the way she wanted to tell him, but she had no other option. And since she really didn't want to tell him on the phone, she wasn't about to leave this as a voice mail for him._

_"He won't pick up," Lita told Dawn and Christian who visited her at her apartment that day. "He's still ignoring me."_

_"I'm sorry sweety," Dawn said. "Just try again later or something. I don't know what else to say."_

_"No. If he's not answering my calls now, then I know he won't answer them later. God, this is so screwed up." She could feel her eyes getting watery. She hated that. She had cried so much this past month, she didn't want to cry anymore._

_"So that's it?" Christian asked. "You're not going to try anymore."_

_"I don't know."_

_"You should."_

_"And you should tell him to answer her calls." Dawn spoke up._

_Christian fought the urge to roll his eyes but lost the battle. "I did. He wants to know why, but Lita said I can't tell him anything."_

_"Our child shouldn't suffer just because he hates me."_

_"Just keep trying," Christian urged her. "Maybe he'll pick up one day."_

_"I doubt it, but whatever. It makes me seem needy and I don't like feeling needy."_

_"But you have to. For your son or daughter." Lita nodded in agreement. She knew she had to keep trying, what if Adam actually did pick up one day? Too bad she had no such luck and stopped trying another month later. She also tried telling him in another method, but that didn't work either. She just gave up on him thinking he could blame himself if he ever found out of their child. When Christian realized his friend was absolutely avoiding all contact attempts on Lita's behalf, he made a promise to himself as well as to Lita that he would always be there for her and her child for whatever they needed. And he always fulfilled that promise._

_*End of Flashback*_

* * *

*Present Time*

Adam stared at the door for a couple of minutes before he finally decided to get it over with and knock on her door. Lita looked up from the couch when she heard a knock on the door. Boy, was he nervous. The door finally opened and the former couple just stood their staring at one another before Lita spoke up.

"Hey," she said as she moved away from the entrance and allowed him in, closing the door behind her.

"Hi," Adam replied following the red-head into the small living room area and sitting down on the couch when she gestured for him to while she just stood there.

"Do you want something to drink?" She started to ask him. "We have juice and water... and milk."

Adam shook his head. "No thanks."

"Okay," she said taking a seat on the same couch but made sure to put some space in between them.

It was quiet once again for a couple of minutes before Adam spoke up this time. "How have you been?" He asked looking at her, noting she was chewing on her lip while looking at the ground, the former which she did a lot of when she was nervous.

"Fine," she replied still looking at the ground. "And yourself?"

"Same." He waited a beat before he continued. "Look, I'm really sorry for leaving the way I did, but-"

She interrupted him finally looking up and at him, shaking her head. "No. I don't care." _Liar._ "Don't tell me. You came here to talk about Ethan and that's what we're going to do."

"But-"

"Adam, not right now, okay?" She interrupted him once again. He simply nodded, this could wait, they needed to focus on Ethan right now.

"So why didn't you tell me anything?" Adam asked after another awkward moment of silence.

Lita took a deep breath trying to remain calm as she answered him. "I tried. I called you a billion times but you still didn't answer any of my calls."

He knew that was the truth. He got angry with Christian for giving her his number. He was tempted many times to pick up her calls because he wanted to know what it was that Christian said was important. He also just wanted to hear her voice which was probably why he called her with his number blocked a few times over the five year span while he was gone and hanging up after he heard her. "You could have left a message."

"Are you kidding with me right now?!" She was starting to get angry, her eyebrows furrowing. "You didn't answer my calls, you could have deleted the messages before you could even listen to them. And I never imagined telling you I was pregnant on the damn phone in the first place, so why the hell would I want to leave you a voice mail like that?!"

"Well, maybe you could have let Christian tell me then."

She groaned in frustration. "Are you even listening to me?! If I didn't even want to tell you on the phone, what the hell makes you think I would want to let someone else tell you?!"

"That was your only other option."

"Not really."

"What do you mean?" He asked with confusion present on his face.

She looked away for a second trying to calm herself down before she continued. "I sent you a letter, did you get it?"

_Oh shit. _"Yea," he nodded. "I just never opened it. I kind of ripped it up and threw it away."

She nodded. "I figured that much."

"How did-"

"Christian didn't tell me your address," Lita interrupted him knowing what he was about to ask her. "I asked him if he would send a letter to you. He told me he would send it to you. And I waited for a reply, a call, anything really. But you didn't say anything, so that's when I decided I was done trying to get a hold of you."

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever. You did what you did, it's over with. Let's just talk about Ethan, okay?" He nodded knowing that she still didn't accept any of his apologies and he didn't blame her. "I honestly don't know what to say to him and how to say it so you have to be a bit patient with me."

"I can help you with telling him."

"No, he doesn't even know you right now. I think it's better if I tell him myself." She paused before she continued. "So how are we going to do this when he finds out? Obviously, I'm not going to push him into getting to know you, but he's a pretty friendly kid, I know he won't push you away. He's a little kid, he doesn't understand what's going on, but he asked about you a couple of weeks ago. And then he asked who you were when you came to the door."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth... sort of. That you're his Uncle Christian's friend."

"So what are you going to tell him?"

"I really don't know. I'm going to have to think about it. I mean, I've been doing that for a while now, even before you came, but this makes it even more difficult. Or maybe easier. I don't know. But I just know I just have to sit him down and explain to him how you're his father. I don't know how I'm going to tell him why you weren't here, I mean I don't even know that much." She continued before she could say anything. "Anyways, I don't know how we're going to do this. Like I said, it's up to him how much he wants to get to know you and I think he does when he knows he actually does have a father. I guess we can figure it out soon." She took a brief pause before she continued. "Did you move in yet? Dawn was telling me how..." she trailed off.

"I'm moving in tomorrow."

She nodded before she got up from the couch. "So you might want to see pictures." She then disappeared into her room and came back with a couple of photo albums. "I don't know how many pictures you want to see, but Dawn made a couple of photo albums for me." She put the pile on the table in front of them and then picked up the one that was on the top. "This is from his first year. Dawn gave it to me for his first birthday." She then handed the album to Adam who started to look at the pictures of his son when he was a baby. He looked at some other albums as well, wanting to see memories of his son, when he flipped through one of the pages and saw a picture of Ethan with his grandmother.

"How's you mom doing?" He always did like Lita's mom, she was a nice and loving lady. She didn't say anything, so he looked up away from the album and at her seeing tears form in her eyes. "What did I say? I'm sorry. What..."

"She's... she's not... she's not with us anymore," she whispered.

_Wow_. He definitely missed a lot in the five years he was gone. "I'm sorry to hear that." He didn't know whether or not he should ask her anything else, fortunately for him, he didn't have to.

"It was actually three years ago. She was in a car accident, dying right at the scene. It was snowing and the other car slipped and hit the drivers side of the door and the impact..." She tried not to cry, but she couldn't help it anymore.

He closed the photo album and moved a little near her, not knowing how she would react but didn't care. If she wanted to flip out on him, she could, but he was going to try to comfort her. He felt she need it. He pulled her against him, which she was reluctant to at first, but finally gave in. He didn't know what to say to her so he just held her in his arms, stroking her hair. She hated it, but she felt calm in his arms. She pulled away from him when she became aware of who she was with. She wiped at her wet face, looking away and then looking back up at him. Right in his green eyes thinking how they were her favorite things about his features after his smile. She always thought he was the most handsome man she ever came across. _Damn it,_ she thought. She wasn't supposed to be thinking this. Unknown to her, he was thinking the same exact thing about her. He always thought there was no one more beautiful than her. He wanted nothing more than to lean in and kiss her, but he felt she would slap him. Too bad he didn't know she wanted to do the same thing. Neither of their feelings really left no matter how much the duo tried. Lita finally looked away from him deciding she didn't want this. She didn't want to get hung up on him again only to probably be disappointed again. She was doing this for Ethan so she was only going to think about him. That was the same reason Adam stopped himself from kissing her.

"Um... So how's you mom?" She decided to ask him changing the subject a bit.

"She's pretty good."

"So, did you... did you tell her anything?"

Adam shook his head. "I was actually going to tell her after I got to talk to you about Ethan first."

She nodded, not knowing what else to say. "Do you want to drink something now? Or maybe something to eat?"

"Some water would be nice."

She nodded as she got up to get him a glass of water and handed it to him. She almost dropped the glass when his fingers brushed against hers. She didn't understand the logic of that, he just got done hugging her, how could the mere meeting of their hands do this to her? Luckily for her, he had a hold on the glass and didn't notice when her hand jumped when their fingers brushed. Or maybe he notice but didn't say anything. She was about to take a seat again, but this time on the chair away from him until she heard the door knock. _Had two hours really gone by already?_ She thought it was probably Christian and Ethan, her suspicion being confirmed when she opened the door.

"Hey," she smiled at the duo. "How was the movie?"

"Awesome! You have to see it!" Ethan exclaimed but then he started to frown when he saw his mother's face. "Why were you crying mommy?"

_Damn it. "_I just, been thinking about grandma," she truthfully answered following Christian and Ethan in the .

"Is that why you cry a lot?" He asked, suddenly grabbing Adam's attention even though he already had it. Lita didn't know what to say, but thankfully, or maybe not so much, Ethan spotted Adam. "Hi," he smiled at him taking a seat next to him with Christian sitting on the chair Lita was about to sit on before she heard the door knock. "I'm Ethan. Mommy said you're Uncle Christian's friend."

"Hi," Adam smiled back. "I am." He was about to say something until Ethan interrupted him, Lita standing at the side watching the father-son's interaction.

"What's your name?"

"Adam."

"Mommy said that's my daddy's name." He turned his attention to Lita. "Right mommy?" Lita felt her heart stop for a moment. Ethan was only four and a half, but what if he put two and two together before she could tell him especially with the next question that left his mouth after she simply nodded in confirmation. "Did you know my daddy? Mommy said he was Uncle Christian's friend."

Adam looked up at Lita who decided to look away. Fortunately for them two, Christian took Ethan's attention away from them. "Ethan, why don't you tell mommy and... my friend what happened in the movie?"

"But what if they want to see it?"

"It's okay," Adam started to say. "You can still tell us."

Ethan nodded. "Okay." He then turned his attention to Lita. "Mommy, come sit next to me," he said as he moved a little closer to Adam letting Lita sit on the other side of him. He proceeded to tell them about the movie he and Christian came back from watching. Christian sat across from them noting how they looked like a family, with both parents on either side of their son. He wanted to take a picture of the moment, but he thought Lita would pick up one of the photo albums on the table and hurl it at him. He just hoped everything would turn out for the best for the three. They deserved it, especially Ethan. He shouldn't have to suffer because of his parents situation which he was pretty sure Lita still didn't know the truth about.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews.**


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a couple of days and Lita still hadn't gotten around to tell Ethan the truth about Adam. It wasn't that she didn't find the time, it was more that she still didn't know what she would say to him. She actually tired one day but she chickened out because she was afraid of how Ethan would react, he was a little kid, she didn't want to ruin his life. Okay, maybe saying it would ruin his life would be stretching it but she knew there was a possibility of it having a negative effect on him. But she was hoping for the best. He was a little kid whose reaction she was wary of. She knew he would possibly have many questions, but she didn't know if she had the answers to them. The first question she thought he would ask was 'why?' Why was Adam never around before? Well, that was the one question she definitely didn't have the answer to and only Adam could answer.

"Hey Lita," someone said from behind the redhead which took her out of her thoughts.

"Hi Trish," Lita smiled after she turned around as saw her fellow nurse.

"Um, Stacy called. She's going to be late-"

Lita groaned as she interrupted her coworker. "Typical. Let me guess, they need me to stay until she shows up?" Trish nodded. "I would get it if she was late like once in a while but this happens all the time."

"I know. It's very annoying. Anyways, I have to go and check up on one of my patients."

"So do I but I need to make a call first." Trish smiled at her before she left to continue with her work. Lita sighed as she took her cell phone out of the pocket in her scrubs so she could call Dawn.

"Hey Li," Dawn answered the phone.

"Hey Dawnie," Lita replied. "Look, I-" she was interrupted by Dawn.

"Hold on," Dawn said as she made her way to the door after she heard the doorbell ring. "Hi," she replied smiling at the mother of one of the kids at her daycare who was at the door and followed her into the house and into the part that was reserved for the daycare. She took a quick moment to return her attention back to the phone call. "Li, this is a bad time. Parents are starting to come to pick up their kids. I'll just talk to you when you pick up Ethan okay?"

"Wait. I just... I'm going to be a bit late. Could you please watch Ethan for another hour and a half, possibly two hours?"

"Stacy's late?" Dawn asked. Lita did always complain about her. "I'll be right there, I'm just talking to another parent right now," Dawn said speaking to the mother of one of the kids.

"Yup."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Do they not discipline her or something?" Dawn didn't wait for an answer because she wasn't really looking for one. "Of course, you know I'll look after him for how long you need."

"Thanks."

"Just one quick thing before I have to leave. Um, Adam is actually going to be here later an-"

"That's fine. Just... I don't... Whatever. I have to check up on who was supposed to be my last patient for the evening, but now I guess I have more. I'll just see you later. Bye."

"Bye."

Lita then went out to check up on her patient. When she was done, she ran into her supervisor who gave her some other work to do. She was annoyed, tired, and just wanted to go home.

* * *

"When's mommy coming?" Ethan asked after it was just him, Dawn, and Brooke left. He just woke up from a late nap not long ago. He had been acting to himself which Dawn thought was out of character for him.

"She's still at work monkey. She'll be here soon."

"But I want to go home," Ethan pouted.

"Well you get to spend some more time with me and Brooke. Don't you want that?"

"No," Ethan shook his head. "I want mommy."

Dawn sighed. She was about to say something until she caught sight of Christian who was apparently home now and in the entrance of the living room. "Deal with him please. Something has been bugging him and he's not saying anything, he'll probably tell you."

Christian nodded as he took Dawn's place and she left the room to answer the door when she heard the doorbell ring. "Hi buddy."

"Where's mommy?"

"She's at work. Aunt Dawn said she'll be here soon."

"I want mommy."

"I'm here. We can play basketball. You like playing basketball right? An-"

"No!" Ethan interrupted him. "I want mommy."

Adam was watching from the side along with Dawn. He had just entered the house a couple of minutes ago, a bit after Christian. He didn't know what he was supposed to do, or if he should even do anything. Ethan had known Christian for his whole life, if he wasn't listening to him, then why would he want anything to do with Adam? "Hey Ethan," Adam said as he made up his mind and headed towards his best-friend and his son. Ethan looked up at him but said nothing. "What's wrong?"

"I want mommy," he repeated for what seemed like the billionth time to Dawn. He actually looked like he was about to cry. No one knew what was wrong with him. Dawn and Christian were both surprised because they never seen him like this before.

"Why?" Adam asked as he sat down on the couch nearby and picked the little boy up and sat him down next to him. He thought because of the way Ethan was reacting, he would be reluctant, but he easily sat down with Adam.

"I had a bad dream," Ethan finally answered after while.

"Oh, would you like to tell me what happened?" Dawn and Christian decided to leave the room at that moment because they felt like they were intruding on a father-son moment. They were just happy he was finally telling someone what was wrong. It was kind of funny, but not really, that he was actually opening up to his father even though he didn't know what he was doing.

Ethan nodded. "Okay. Mommy wasn't here anymore. I kept looking for her but she wasn't there. She left me."

"It was just a dream sweetie, it doesn't mean anything."

"How do you know?" Ethan questioned.

"Well," Edge started to smile, "I had a dream I was being chased by monkeys who just wanted to give me bananas," that got a giggle from the little boy. "Do you think that actually happened?" Ethan shook his head. "See, that didn't mean anything." Adam could tell that Ethan was still apprehensive so he decided to suggest something. "Do you want me to call your mommy for you and you can talk to her?" Ethan nodded with Adam then taking his phone out of his pocket to dial Lita's number.

"Hello?" Lita answered the phone. Adam thought she seemed a bit distracted and probably didn't know he was the one who just called her.

"Hi," Adam replied.

"Oh... hi," Lita replied after a while which made Adam's previous thoughts confirmed that she didn't know it was him who was calling her. "Um-"

"Ethan wants to talk to you," Adam said then handing the phone to Ethan before Lita could question him about anything. She was a bit confused as to why Ethan was with Adam.

"When are you coming?" That was the first thing that came out of the little boy's mouth.

"In half an hour baby. I'm just about to leave from work right now. What's wrong? Are you okay?" She was worried because she could sense from his voice that he sounded like he was on the brink of crying. And then she got even more worried when he did start crying. But then she heard Adam trying to comfort Ethan. She didn't know whether she should be happy or sad about that fact.

"Hey, it's okay," Adam said after he put Ethan on his lap so he was sitting facing one another and he was hugging him. "See, you talked to her. Mommy is okay. Why are you crying sweetie?" Ethan didn't answer him so he just took the phone from him so he could talk to Lita because he knew she was worried. "Hey, don't worry-"

"Why would you tell me not to worry?" Lita interrupted him. "He's crying, that worries me."

"He just had a bad dream."

"Okay, and what was this dream about?"

He was a bit hesitant to tell her about this for various reasons, but he knew he had to. "That you were looking for him and you were nowhere to be found. He said you left him."

Lita was quiet for a bit until, "I wouldn't do that. I mean, I know how it..." she trailed off not wanting to continue with that. She didn't even realize she was saying that out loud until it was a bit too late. "Um, I wouldn't do that."

Adam nodded, choosing not to address what she was about to say? "I know. When should you be here?"

"You're at Dawn's house right?" She continued after she heard him say 'yes.' "Well, one of the nurses that I was staying longer for just got here so I was about to exchange information with her about the patients I was looking after and what I did and what needs to be done. So, I'll probably get there in another half hour or so. I just have to talk to her first. That should take about ten minutes and then a another five minutes to get out of here and about fifteen to twenty minutes to get there."

"Okay. Well then I guess I'll just... bye."

"Wait," he heard her hear before he could hang up the phone. "Um... I wa... Thanks."

Adam shook his head. "You shouldn't have to say that. I'm..." he didn't finish his statement because Ethan was still on his lap. He didn't know whether or not Ethan was listening, but he didn't want to take the chance and have him find out this way.

"I know. I just... still, thanks for being there for him."

"Yea. Bye." And with that said, they hung up the phone. He then turned his attention back to Ethan who decided to sit back on the couch a few moments ago, seeing that he had finally calmed down. He started talking to him, trying to make him laugh and make him feel better. Christian and Dawn watched from the entrance of the room in awe. They were a bit surprised to see how Adam and Ethan were adjusting to one another, but more so how Adam handled that situation.

"I just hope for the best when Ethan finds out the truth about who Adam is in relation to him," Dawn said as she still looked ahead.

"Me too," Christian nodded in agreement. He then decided to join the duo in the living room but still gave them their space. It was another half hour or so until Lita finally showed up.

"Hey," Dawn smiled when she opened the door to her friend who smiled back. "You look tired."

Lita nodded following Dawn into the house. "I am. And this week is a long week and it's only Tuesday."

Dawn gave her a sympathetic look. "That sucks. But you can do it."

"I have to. Anyways, where's Ethan?" Lita said looking around the living room before Dawn led her to the kitchen. "We should get home now."

"He's out in the back with Christian, Adam, and Brooke," Dawn saw the way the redhead started to look away when she heard a certain blonde's name, but chose not to say anything. "You know it's a little weird, he's actually been with Adam most of his time rather than Christian."

"Well, that's good, right? Anyways, I should get him." She was about to go through the kitchen door and into the backyard until Dawn stopped her.

"Stay for dinner. It's already almost seven. It's basically ready. I was just getting the salad ready when I heard the doorbell ring and the garlic bread is basically done as well." Lita looked like she was ready to decline the offer but Dawn wouldn't let her. "Li, it's almost seven. You're late today. And you're really tired. I know you're in no mood to go home and put something together."

"I could do that if I didn't have Ethan to worry about."

"But you do which is why you should just stay."

"But-"

Dawn interrupted her because she knew her friend was about to bring up the fact that Adam was here. "It's okay. You two are just going to have to deal with one another now."

Lita nodded. "I know."

"Then stay. I made spaghetti and I know Ethan loves that."

"Fine. Only because I really don't want to go home and cook."

"Great," Dawn smiled as she cut the salad. "Could you get them and tell them to wash up?"

"Or I could take over and cut the salad and you could get them," Lita suggested.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Shut up and just do it."

"You're mean... and bossy."

Dawn smiled. "I'm aware."

Lita went to the backyard and saw Christian playing with Brooke while Adam was playing basketball with Ethan. She just stood there for a while observing Adam and Ethan. She saw how happy Ethan looked with Edge and she was conflicted once again if that should make her happy or sad. She was happy Ethan was getting along with Adam even though he didn't know the truth of who Adam was. But it made her sad thinking about how much the two missed out on getting to know one another the past few years. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Ethan call for her and run towards her hugging her. "Hi sweetie," she smiled at him when he backed away from her. She could sense Adam's eyes on her but she tried to ignore it.

"You're here. Uncle Adam was right, that dream didn't mean anything."

Lita glanced over at Adam for a second before she looked back down at Ethan. "Of course. He was right, you're dream didn't mean anything."

"He told me he had a dream monkeys were chasing him only so they could give him a banana." Ethan started to giggle again when he thought about that.

"That's funny," Lita said joining Ethan in the giggling.

"You'll always be here right?" Lita nodded. "Promise?"

"Promise." She then hugged him once again. After they ended the hug, Lita turned her attention to the others and told them Dawn said dinner was ready and they should go inside now and get cleaned up.

* * *

To say the dinner was uncomfortable would be an understatement. What made it even more uncomfortable was the fact that Dawn and Christian tried hard not to make it that way which they definitely failed at. Adam asked Lita if he could talk to her for a moment before she left so they stepped into the family room of the house for a moment.

"What?" Lita asked after an awkward moment of silence, finally looking up at Adam.

"When are you planning on telling Ethan?" He asked.

She sighed looking away from him and then back up before she answered. "I don't know. I tried, but I just... I don't know how he's going to react and that scares me."

He nodded. "I understand."

"You just have to deal with me. It's... I just can't throw this at him."

"I know. I'm just... I just want to have a relationship with him. It's been four and a half years of his life that I missed out. I don't want to miss out any longer."

"I know. I'm... It's... I know."

"I liked how I was able to spend some time with him today, but that was for a couple of hours and he doesn't even know who I am. I want more than that. I want him to know I'm his father."

"I understand-"

"No you don't," Adam interrupted, shaking his head before she could say more. "You... He calls you 'mommy' because you're his mom and he knows that. He called me 'Uncle Adam'. You don't know how that feels. I know I just found out about him and you can't just throw this on him, but I'm his dad. I want him to call me his dad. I want him to know that I'm his dad. I want to be able to act like this dad. I want him to know that I love him. I wa-" He stopped himself from saying more when he looked up and saw someone standing right behind Lita in the doorway of the room. Lita noticed this and looked up at Adam after she looked away from him a moment before and then followed his gaze to where he was looking, turning around and seeing the last person she would like to see at that particular moment: Ethan.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews. Special thanks to Totaldramfan123, mca, Kay, Pinayprincesa, and xHalesMariex. :)**

**Ooooo. Cliffhanger. Darn those cliffhangers. ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

"I found you!" Christian said as he spotted Ethan in the doorway of the family room. "That's not really a hiding spot is it buddy?" He walked over to Ethan confused as to why Ethan was just standing there and it didn't seem like he was paying attention to anything he just said. Christian looked into the room where the little boy was looking and saw both his parents frozen in place with horror written all over their faces. _This can't be good, _Christian thought but said something else out loud. "What's going on?"

That's when Ethan decided to turn around and leave from the area. "Ethan. Wait sweetie," Lita called after her son as she followed him.

Christian looked on from behind, then entered into the room and walked towards Adam once the mother-son duo were out of sight. "What's going on?" He repeated once again.

Adam sighed shaking his head. "We messed up, man."

"How so?"

"He heard us talking."

Christian waited for Adam to speak up but he didn't. "Would you like to elaborate?"

That's when Adam turned to face his friend, simply looking at him before he spoke up. "He heard us talking about him and how I'm his father."

"Wow," Christian said after his moment of shock was over. "Do you think he really heard you two and understood what you were talking about?"

Adam nodded. "I'm pretty sure. Especially how he kind of just left right now."

"Well, it's good he knows, right?"

"Yes, but that's not how we wanted him to find out." Adam put his hands through his hair, groaning in frustration, not believing this was the way his son was going to find out the truth about him. "I'm going to see where those two went. Lita might need my help with this. It's not just her responsibility." Christian didn't have a chance to reply as Adam left to find his former girlfriend and their son.

Lita followed Ethan out to the backyard with Dawn looking on confused and a bit worried because Ethan looked a bit upset. The redhead sat down next to the blonde boy after he sat on the patio swing in the yard.

"Sweetie," Lita started to say after a while, but not knowing what she was about to say. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately for her, Ethan decided to interrupt her before she could say something.

"You lied." He wasn't looking up at her and it hurt her, it made her feel horrible. "You said Uncle Adam is Uncle Christian's friend, but you didn't say he's my daddy."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Why did you lie?" he said finally looking back up at his mother who didn't like the way he was looking at her at all; he looked hurt, confused, and lost which only made her feel more horrible than she was already feeling. "Why doesn't he live with us? Brooke lives with her mommy and daddy and so does Jacob," he said referring to Dawn and Christian's daughter as well as his friend from preschool and Dawn's daycare.

"Because he didn't used to live here," Lita replied, hoping Ethan wouldn't ask her any more questions about why Adam didn't live with them.

"Why not?"

"Because he didn't live in Tampa. He lived somewhere else?"

"Where?" Lita was about to tell him that she didn't know, but Adam decided to make his presence known. He was actually listening to the duo since their conversation started.

"Idaho," Adam said making his way over to the other side of Ethan and sitting down besides him.

"Where's that?" Ethan questioned.

"On the other side of the country."

"Had to go on the other side of the country just to get away from me," Lita muttered under her breath which didn't go unheard by Adam. He could tell she didn't mean to say that out loud by sensing the expression on her face. He chose not to say anything, at least not with Ethan around. It was a good thing that he didn't hear what she said.

"Why?" Ethan continued with his million questioned.

Adam didn't know what to say because he didn't think this was something he could tell a little kid about. He didn't even tell Lita about it yet and she didn't seem to want to know the truth. "I had to. I promise it will make more sense to you when you get older."

"Okay," Ethan nodded. "Now you're back, right?" Adam nodded as a positive answer. "You won't leave?"

Adam glanced up at Lita for a moment knowing she was probably interested in his response as well, but she decided to look away once their eyes met. She would not allow herself to get caught up in that spell again. He looked back down at their son. "No, I won't. I'm here to stay."

"Promise?"

Adam smiled down at his mini-me. "Promise." It was quiet between the trio once again before Adam decided to speak up again. "Are you okay with me being your daddy?"

Ethan smiled looking up at Adam. "Yes. I like you, you're nice." That made Adam really happy as he smiled back at Ethan who then turned to look up at his mother. "Do I call him 'Uncle Adam' or 'daddy'?"

"Whatever you want sweetie. It's your choice." She then glanced up at Adam who was focused on Ethan for the moment, then she looked back down at him. "But... but I think he would like it if you called him 'daddy'."

"Okay. Why didn't you tell me about him before?" He looked upset again.

"Ethan. I'm sorry. It's not... I know you don't understand right now. And that's okay. But I promise I will explain it all to you one day when you're older. Okay?" Ethan nodded and Lita wasn't prepared for the next words to come out of his mouth.

"Where did I come from?"

Lita was speechless for a moment and Adam was glad that question wasn't directed to him. "What?"

"How was I born?"

Lita glanced up at Adam who was biting his lip, trying hard not to laugh. He didn't miss the glare she sent his way before she turned her attention back down to Ethan. "Um, you came from the hospital."

"How?"

"Well-"

She was interrupted by Ethan who had yet another question. "Logan said his mommy and daddy are giving him a little sister. He said his little sister is inside his mommy's tummy. How did she get in there?" _Looks like I'll have to have a talk with Logan's mommy, _Lita thought. "Did she eat her?"

Lita heard Adam was failing at his attempt not to laugh and she send him another glare followed with her mouthing him to shut up. "Um... actually sweetie, the baby is not in her tummy." If she was going to have this talk with him, she wasn't going to completely leave out the truth. "The baby is in a special place inside her body where she is living right now until she's ready to come out and join the world."

"Was I in that special place inside your body?"

Lita nodded. "Yes."

"How did I get there?" Lita wanted to say she would explain it to him when he was older, but both her and Adam kind of already used that on him twice. She didn't know what to say, thinking about it for a while. This wasn't something she thought about before. She was about to say something, but Ethan probably got tired of waiting for her so he turned around to Adam and repeated his question. "How did I get into mommy's special place?"

"Um..." Now it was Adam's turn to say something without saying too much and Lita's turn to enjoy him squirm. "Well... you see... um... babies are made when two adults love each other so much that they're able to create a baby inside the mother." _Wow, _Lita thought, _he really just came up with that in a minute? _The former couple was was not ready for the next question they heard leaving their son's mouth.

"Do you love mommy?"

Adam looked up at Lita, who decided yet again that it was the perfect time to look away, for a moment before he looked back down at Ethan and he was about to say something but, "Sweetie," Lita spoke up before this conversation could go any further because she was feeling uncomfortable at the moment, "it's almost your bedtime. We need to get home. You have school tomorrow."

"But I don't want to go," he pouted.

"We have to. So please go inside and get your things together and we will go. Okay?"

"Fine," he reluctantly agree. But he turned to Adam before he went inside. "When can I see you again?"

"When you want. And when your mommy wants."

"Okay," he gave Adam a hug and left with the two adults looking on from behind.

"Well, he took that well," Adam said after Ethan left.

"Yea, I guess we're lucky for that." Adam got up and looked like he was about to leave but, "Wait," Lita said standing up as well, touching his arm slightly, but pulling it back immediately. "Look, you told him you'll be here for him when he needs and wants. You told him you won't leave. So just keep in mind that I will not hesitate to kick your ass and then kill you if you decide to disappear again."

"I won't do that, but I had to do it back then." Maybe this was the time he could tell her. "If you would just let me explain-"

"No," Lita interrupted him. "I don't want to know." Truth was, she wanted to know, she couldn't stop thinking about it, but she was afraid of his answer. What if it was something she did? What if she was the one who pushed him away? She didn't think she would be able to handle that.

"But I want to explain myself."

Lita shook her head. "I don't care Adam. At least not right now. Let's just focus on Ethan right now. And then I guess we can focus on that crap. But I really don't care." She paused for a moment before she spoke up again. "Look, Dawn and I are taking Brooke, Ethan, and one of his friends, Jacob, to the zoo on Saturday, you can come with us if you want."

Adam nodded. "I would like that. That would be nice."

"Okay, well we can figure out how you two can spend some more time together later. I'm really tired, I just want to go home. Bye." With that said, she left with Adam staying back for a moment. "Are you ready?" She asked Ethan when she met him inside the house. He nodded. "Okay." She then turned her attention to Dawn who looked like she wanted to talk about something and Lita was not feeling it right now, especially not after that conversation with Adam and Ethan. "Thanks. Bye." She was about to leave until Dawn decided she didn't want to let her.

"Wait," Dawn said grabbing Lita's arm and turning her around so she was facing her and moved her to the other room so they were alone. "Are you okay?" She asked with concern on her face. Lita nodded. "I don't believe you."

"Dawn, not now. Please. I've had a long day and now... this. Look I just... please later. Not right now."

"I'm not going to push you into telling me anything. But, I just want to know if you're okay."

"It's... I don't know."

"Just know whatever you need, I'm here for you. If you need an accomplice in murdering Adam, I'm here for you."

That made Lita smile a bit. "I know." The smile disappeared from her face pretty soon. "It's just... I don't know. I mean, he took it well. I should be happy about that, but I'm not. I feel like we're keeping so much from him and he doesn't deserve that. He's too young to understand anything right now, but I still feel like giving him the 'I'll explain it when you get older' answer is not fair to him. I feel like I can't even give him a real answer because I don't even know why Adam left. Like, am I supposed to say 'mommy tried to tell daddy but he left and ignored her and she doesn't know why'? I can't say that. I... It's not fair to him. This sucks."

"Well, at least he's okay with that answer for now. He'll most likely want answers when he gets older, but it's okay for now."

Lita nodded. "Yea, well, it's getting past Ethan's bedtime. Thanks for dealing with me. Sorry for-"

"Stop it." Dawn didn't let her continue. "You have no reason to be sorry so I don't even want to hear it."

"We really need to get going, so I'll just talk to you later. Bye." She was stopped once again by Dawn, only this time for Dawn to pull her into a hug. "Not that I mind, but what was that for?" Lita asked after they pulled apart.

Dawn shrugged with a smile on her face. "You just looked like you needed a hug."

Lita tried to smile back, but she was just really mentally and physically exhausted. "You're right. Thanks."

"Don't forget," Dawn started to say as they walked back into the living room, observing that Adam was back, "you ever need me, I'm here."

Lita nodded. "Thanks," she then turned her attention to Ethan, trying to ignore Adam. "Let's go sweetie." She then glanced between the two men in the room. "Bye," with that said, Lita and Ethan left with Adam following not much later.

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**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

Lita groaned when she heard her alarm go off for what seemed like the billionth time the next morning. She once again pressed the snooze button. She just wanted five more minutes, but she did that a couple of times which meant she probably overslept by 30 minutes, but really 15 minutes since she set her alarm for 15 minutes earlier than she had to wake up so she knew she could sleep for a couple of more minutes. She hadn't been able to sleep much these past couple of weeks always thinking about Adam and Ethan. It looked like everything was going to be good between the two since they both knew about one another now and she thought she would have been able to get some sleep last night, but that was not the case. She sighed as she looked over at the clock: 6:15. She still had forty five minutes to get her stuff together before she had to wake up Ethan and get him ready for school so they could leave the house by eight.

She didn't want to get up just yet because she felt her whole body was aching and her head was pounding. But she tried to ignore the pain and got up. It wasn't too long until she had to sit back down on her bed because she felt a wave of dizziness. _I'm just tired, _she thought to herself, _I'll be okay. _She tried getting up once again. This time she was able to get up, but only so she could rush to the bathroom and vomit. She went back to bed after the vomiting episode was over. She tried getting up again half an hour later so she could try to hurry her process of getting ready before she had to get Ethan ready and take him to school, then take herself to work at the hospital. Unfortunately for her, her body wasn't cooperating with her. She rarely did this unless she had to for Ethan, but she knew she had to, so she decided to call into work and call out. There was no way she would be able to get anything done, she would be more of a liability than an asset. She then decided to call Dawn.

"Hello?" Dawn answered.

"Good morning."

"Li? Are you okay? You sound awful."

"No."

"What's wrong?"

"Huge headache. Body aches. Dizzy. I also had to puke not too long ago. I can't get up. It hurts."

"You better call out from work," Dawn demanded because she knew Lita always went to work no matter what unless it concerned Ethan.

"I did."

"Good. Is there something I could do for you?"

"I'm sorry for asking, but do you think either you or Christian could take Ethan to school?"

"I'm sorry sweetie. I can't because the first kid comes at 8:30 and I know that's when Ethan has to be there. I'll ask Christian though." She was about to do as she said, but another idea came into her head. "Actually, how about you try calling Adam. I know he doesn't have to be at work until nine and I know you two discussed him being a part of Ethan's life now so maybe he could do this. I mean, I can ask Christian and I know he'll do it for you, but I was just thinking this could be a way Adam could start being a part of Ethan's life."

Lita thought about it for a moment. "You make a good point. I don't know why I didn't think of that before."

"Look, like I said, I'm sure Christian has time before he has to get to work, but I mean, that's a way Adam can be more involved."

Lita nodded, but immediately regretted it when the pounding felt like it was getting more and more unbearable. "Thanks. I guess I'll call him." And with that, she hung up the phone and was called Adam.

"Hello?" Adam answered the phone.

"Good morning," she replied.

"Lita? Is everything okay? I mean, it's barely seven and you-"

"Well, that's why I'm calling," she interrupted him. "I... Basically, I'm not feeling too well and I really can't get up right now so I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking Ethan to school this morning?"

"Of course not." He didn't hesitate at all which made Lita happy that he was serious about being a part of Ethan's life and in taking some of the responsibility. "When do you drop him off?"

"Well, we try to leave by eight and we usually do, but if you don't mind, could you come before then. I... so much pain and dizziness. I don't want to pass out and have him come in the room and see me passed out on the floor."

"Is it that serious?" He asked concerned. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I think it's just exhaustion. I haven't been getting much sleep lately. Too much going on in my mind. I've been working extra hours for one of the nurses who's almost always late so I'm thinking that's coming into play."

"You're making yourself sick. You always did do that. Looks like nothing's really changed." It became awkwardly quiet after that. "You need to start taking more care of yourself too." It was quiet for a moment before Adam decided to speak up. "Um, I can be there in fifteen minutes and I can help Ethan get ready before I take him to school."

"Thanks. That would be perfect. Bye." She heard another voice once she hung up the phone.

"Mommy, why are you still in bed?" Ethan asked as he rubbed his eyes and sat next to her on her bed.

"Mommy doesn't feel well, sweetie."

"Are you okay?" He looked like he was getting worried so she smiled at him trying to convince him nothing was wrong.

"Yes sweetie." She looked up at the clock in her room and saw it was now seven. "Daddy is going to come and take you to school today. Is that okay?" He smiled and nodded. "Okay. He should be here shortly. How about you go and wash your face and brush your teeth first?" He nodded and left to do as he was told. While he was doing that, Lita tried to get up once again in which she was successful with this time. Her body ached and her head was still hurting, but at least she wasn't feeling much dizzy. At least for the time being. She went into Ethan's room and was happy she actually took out his clothes for the day last night instead of waiting even though she was super tired when they came home last night. She gave Ethan his clothes after he came out from the bathroom. She heard a knock on the door while Ethan was getting ready and knew it was Adam. "That's probably daddy. I'll be right back. Okay?" He nodded and she went to go open the door for Adam.

She wasn't surprised by the words coming out of Adam's mouth when she opened the door. "Oh, you look horrible."

"Thanks."

He cringed. "I didn't-"'

"Whatever," she said shutting the door behind her. "It's the truth."

"Um, sorry I took a little longer than usual but, I got you some soup for later," he started to say as he put the brown bag in his hand onto the counter in the kitchen. "You know, when you're up for eating. I remember when I..." he trailed off realizing he was going back down memory lane thinking it would probably get awkward. Again. But it wasn't like Lita didn't already know what he was going to say. "Anyways, I remember your favorite used to be Broccoli Cheddar Soup from Panera Bread, so I kind of gambled and bought you that."

"It still is." Lita nodded. "You didn't have to, but thanks anyways. How m-"

"Don't ask me that," Adam interrupted her, looking a bit offended. "I got it for you because I wanted to. Don't ask me that." Lita simply nodded, thanking him again. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap."

"Hi daddy!" Ethan exclaimed when he entered the kitchen where the duo was at.

Adam smiled at the fact that Ethan chose to call him 'daddy' after all. "Good morning. Are you ready for school?" Adam asked Ethan who nodded.

"Breakfast first," Lita said as she placed a bowl and spoon on the table and took out the milk and cereal. She poured in the milk and cereal for Ethan then turned to look at Adam after she gave Ethan his breakfast. "Would you like something?"

"No thanks."

"Did you already eat something?"

"No, I was-"

"Then have something," she interrupted him. "I know it's just cereal but that's what happens when it's a crazy morning like today. If you don't want that, then have a banana, apple, something."

"Um, okay. I'll take a banana." He then grabbed the one of the bananas on the table. "Do you want something?"

She shook her head. "No."

"You should."

"Later. I don't feel like it right now."

"You'll be okay by yourself? I can come by later during my break or something."

Lita shook her head. "I'll be fine. I'm sure I just need some sleep or something. I should go to work but I have a lot of sick days left for the year and I could use this day off." It was quiet for a moment before she spoke up again. "Could you drop off Ethan later?"

"Of course."

"It's eight. Are you ready Ethan?" Lita asked after it looked like he finished his breakfast. He nodded. "Okay go wash your hands and face." He did as he was told, and while he did that, Lita decided to have a little talk with Adam. "Please drive carefully with him. I know how you like to drive fast, I'm sure that hasn't changed. Be careful for him, you can drive however you want when you're in the car by yourself. You might need to get a booster seat for him in your car so you don't always have to borrow the one from my car all the time. You have to go inside with him, you can't just drop him off and let him go inside by himself. You might want to introduce yourself to his teacher so she doesn't think a total stranger is dropping him off."

Adam nodded. "Okay. We also have other things to talk about like how we're going to do this."

Lita sighed. "I know, just not right now. I don't want Ethan to have to hear it."

"You chose his name?" Adam asked Lita who nodded. "Why? I mean, what made you choose that name?"

Lita chewed on her bottom lip for a bit before she answered him. "His name means 'strong' and well, he helped me get through something..." she trailed off, he knew what she was talking about. "I had to be strong for the both of us when I found out I was pregnant so I thought why not? Fits perfectly." Ethan came back and joined the two again before Adam could say anything. "Ready?"

"Yes! Are you feeling better mommy?" She smiled at him and nodded, he returned the smile and hugged her. "Bye mommy.

"Bye sweetie." She then looked up at Adam. "Thanks."

He shook his head. "I told you not to say 'thanks' when I do something for him because he's my responsibility too. Bye." With that said, Adam and Ethan left and Lita couldn't help but think about what Adam brought up earlier.

_*Flashback- January 2007*_

_"What are you doing?" Adam turned around to see his girlfriend had entered into the living room area. She could still see him even though he was in the kitchen and she was in the living room because there was no wall separating the two rooms._

_"You should be in bed," he replied, turning his attention back to the stove._

_She was about to say something, but she had to sneeze first. "And I asked what you were doing."_

_"You're sick. Go back to bed. Don't worry."_

_"Looks like you're trying to cook something. I don't want you to burn down the kitchen. I don't want you to burn down the building."_

_"A little dramatic are we?"_

_"Adam."_

_"Lita." She rolled her eyes and walked over towards him. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw a piece of paper with something written on it. He rose a brow. "Something funny?"_

_"You're making soup?" She asked after she stopped laughing._

_"Yes and that's funny to you?"_

_"Yes." She began laughing once again._

_"I called my mom and asked her for an easy but good recipe."_

_"Which you'll probably still screw up," she interrupted him through her laughter._

_He rolled his eyes at her as he cut up some carrots for the soup. "No I won't. Get back to bed. I'll bring you some when it's ready."_

_"Mmm, I don't think so. I rather watch this."_

_"Fine," he agreed. "But from the couch." She nodded and went over to the couch and made herself comfortable and positioned herself so she could still see him from there. To say she was entertained while watching him would be an understatement. She kept laughing every five minutes to which she received a stern look a couple of times which just made her laugh even harder. "Here," Adam said after about an hour later with a bowl of the soup in his hands. Lita looked down at it and accepted the bowl from him._

_"Well, it smells good," she said, which wasn't a lie._

_"See, I told you I could do good."_

_"Not so fast Mister. I haven't tasted it yet."_

_He watched her as she took a spoonful, her face not giving him any hints of whether or not she liked it. "So, what's the verdict?"_

_"It's good," she smiled at him. "Thanks."_

_He frowned. He could always tell when she was lying to him. "You're lying."_

_"No I'm not. You did good Hon."_

_"I can tell when you're lying. You give the same look you give when you're nervous."_

_"Okay, I'm sorry," she finally gave in. "It could just use a whole lot less salt. And some more cooking time. But that doesn't matter since you put so much salt in it. I could tell if could have been good had you put the right amount of salt in it and cooked it a little bit longer."_

_He frowned. "I'm sorry."_

_"Awww, it's okay Addy poo. It's the effort that counts. Had I not been sick and all germy, I would give you a kiss as a reward."_

_"I like that type of award."_

_She rolled her eyes. "Too bad I'm germy."_

_"I don't care."_

_"But I do."_

_"So how about I just go buy you some soup then?"_

_She nodded. "Okay."_

_"Which would you like?" She gave him a look like he should already know this answer, but said nothing since he remembered on his own. "Oh yea, Broccoli Cheddar from Panera Bread." She nodded in confirmation. He got up from the couch so he could go and get her something. "I'll be right back."_

_"Hey," he turned around so he could hear what she was about to say. "I love you," she smiled._

_He returned that smile. "I love you too."_

_*End of Flashback*_

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**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Super long chapter. I tried splitting it up, but I didn't like it that way and it didn't work for me, so yea... super long chapter. Hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

Lita found herself at the Zoo the following Saturday along with Dawn, Ethan, Brooke, Jacob, Adam, and Christian who decided to tag along when Adam was added to the plan. She was feeling so much better than she was earlier that week. She actually went back to work after taking that one day off which was definitely needed. She also had a talk with Adam about how this was going to work out with him in the picture now. It was agreed that sometimes Adam would take Ethan to school when Lita had to be at work before nine which happened rarely but it did happen. She always tried to schedule around Ethan, but sometimes it just didn't work out that way. She usually left Ethan at Dawn's house when she had to work on weekends, but Adam suggested he should take Ethan those days and she agreed to that. Lita was reluctant in agreeing with one thing that Adam brought up, but she thought he made a good point so she decided that Ethan could stay overnight with Adam sometimes but only if Ethan wanted. She wasn't going to force him to do something he didn't want to do and she made sure Adam knew that. She gave him a list of things he needed to get for when Ethan did start staying at his house. Adam was excited about the prospect and started to ask Dawn to help him with setting up a room that would be his when he did stay with Adam. There were still some issues that needed to be talked out, but so far so good.

Currently, Dawn was trying to convince Lita to have a girls night, just the two of them. "Come on Li," she continued with her begging as the two trailed behind the men and children, "You deserve a night. We both deserve a night together without having to worry about the kids. We need some fun to."

"Dawn-" Lita was about to protest, but brunette wasn't going to have any of it and decided to interrupt her.

"Come on Li!" Dawn repeated for about the billionth time which was loud enough that made Christian and Adam turn around and give them a questioning look to which Dawn waved them off. "Do this for yourself. I know Christian will have no problem looking after Brooke. Well, he better not. And Adam should have no problem either taking care of Ethan because he wants to spend more time with him and this is his way. If you don't trust Adam by himself, then it's okay because he and Christian can just take care of Brooke and Ethan together." The duo stopped along side the others who stopped in front of what the display said was Malayan Tigers.

"I don't know Dawn." Lita was still reluctant in agreeing.

"When's the last time you went out just to have fun? When's the last time just the two of us got together just to have fun?" Adam and Christian were both listening but said nothing as of yet.

"Well, that's why we made the Zoo plan so we could have fun together."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "We made this plan for our kids. I asked when the last time was that we had fun for ourselves? It's been a really long time. You deserve it. I deserve it. We work hard during the week at our jobs and then at home as well taking care of our kids. Hell, I'm always around kids. Don't get me wrong, obviously I love kids, but I need a couple of hours break. I'm just asking you for one night, I'm not asking you to do this all the time. It's just one time."

Lita thought about it for a while and was about to refuse again until, "You should go," Adam spoke up. "You deserve a break."

"Yea, because I need your permission," she sarcastically muttered under her breath which didn't go unheard by Dawn, Adam, or Christian who then decided to take the kids a little more closer to the Tigers and a little further away from Lita and Adam.

"I didn't say you do. I'm just saying that you deserve a break. Go with Dawn for a couple of hours. Have fun. I'm fully capable of taking care of Ethan."

"Really?" Lita asked looking up at him, glad Christian took the kids closer to the Tigers. "I wasn't aware you took care of him on your own before."

"Well, I haven't and whose fault is that?" He fought back.

She scowled at him. "Your own. So let's not start that one."

"Actually-"

"Stop," Dawn interrupted the duo. "This is hardly the time or place." She turned her attention to Adam. "Thanks, but you should probably join them," she gestured to the four who were still looking at the Tigers with interest. He sighed and just left the two women. Dawn returned her attention back to Lita. "What was that?"

"What?"

"The way you were talking to Adam."

Lita rolled her eyes. "Well, he was acting like I needed permission from him and I don't. He doesn't control me."

This time it was Dawn's turn to roll her eyes. "He wasn't giving you permission, he was encouraging you."

"I don't care."

"So, yes or no?" Dawn asked.

"I already said 'no.'"

Dawn pouted. "Li, please. It's not just for you, it's for me too."

"Fine," she finally gave in. "What are we going to do?"

Dawn shrugged. "I don't know. We're just going to see where the night takes us."

"Whatever. Let's go. I want to see the Tigers." And with that, Lita left to join the others near the Tigers and Dawn followed. The group spent another hour at the Zoo before they decided to leave. Lita dropped of Jacob first before her and Ehtan joined the other's as Dawn and Christian's house. The two men agreed to look after the children while the two women went out and had some fun of their own.

* * *

"So what are you two up to?" Christian asked before Lita and Dawn left after they got ready.

"We're going to find Lita a man," Dawn replied trying to fix a part of Lita's hair, not caring that Adam was around and listening to them as well. She did notice that he seemed to frown when he heard that statement come out of her mouth.

Lita rolled her eyes, smacking Dawn's hand away from her hair. "No we're not."

Dawn rolled her eyes as she hit Lita back for smacking her hand. "Yes we are. When's the last time you actually had a real relationship?" Dawn cringed as soon as those words left her mouth and muttered a 'sorry'. And then it became awkwardly quiet until she spoke up again. "Let's just go now."

"Yea before you put your foot in your mouth again," Lita muttered under her breath to which Dawn repeated she was sorry. She then returned her attention to Adam before they left. "Ethan woke up late from his nap, he was tired so that's fine. But still, his bedtime is eight-thirty on the weekends, and sometimes at nine. No sugar, no junk, he had enough of that at the Zoo. More than enough actually." She was about to say more until Adam interrupted her.

"I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing. Calm down. Relax, just go and have fun."

She glared at him. "And I'm pretty sure you don't," she replied ignoring the last part.

Adam was taken aback by her attitude with him today. She kept jumping down his throat all day today. "Did I do something to you?"

"Actually, yea, you did."

He rolled his eyes. He knew where she was going with this. "Lately?"

"Yes, you just existing is irritating enough."

"Okay," Christian interrupted the two before this could escalate any further. "Li, don't worry. I have taken care of Ethan before. I'm here too, he's not alone. Ethan can stay here tonight, and when you two get back, you can stay here too. I've taken care of him before overnight. Don't worry. I know all the instructions, I can tell them to Adam myself."

"Whatever. Let's go Dawn." And with that said, she left.

"What the hell crawled us her ass and died?" Adam asked.

"She hasn't really been having a good couple of weeks and she's taking it out on you," Dawn answered. "This isn't easy for her."

"And it is for me?"

Dawn sighed, interrupting him before he could continue any further. "I know. She's just... never mind. I have to go. Bye." She went to join Lita so they could leave.

Christian waited for the door to shut as a confirmation that Dawn and especially Lita were out of sight. "Dude, I thought you said she was civil. She's been biting your ear off the whole day."

"I guess I thought wrong. She was like this when I first went to see her which was expected. And after that when we talked about Ethan, she's been fine. Kind of surprised it took her three weeks to act like this again. But it's kind of surprising it started out of nowhere. I don't even know what the hell I did to deserve this."

"Yea, well, I guess it's on you to be civil with her. For Ethan." Adam simply nodded. He just hoped she wouldn't act so bitter towards him forever.

* * *

"What is wrong with you?" Dawn asked Lita as they were driving to the restaurant they were going to have dinner at first.

"Nothing. I'm perfectly fine," Lita answered as she decided to turn on the radio. She knew where Dawn was going with this and she wanted to avoid this. Unfortunately for her, Dawn knew what she was trying to do and she turned the radio off. "I was listening to that."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Sure you were. Why are you so hostile towards Adam?"

"I'm not." Dawn started laughing after she heard that. "Are you crazy? Do I need to turn the car around and start heading towards an insane asylum?"

Dawn sobered up. "I thought that was a legitimate joke. If you don't think you were hostile with him, then you might be the one who has to go to the insane asylum." Lita continued to drive and ignored her friend. "Li, are you acting this way because of what I told you the other day?"

"No."

"Liar."

"Shut up."

"Lili."

"Dawnie."

"Admit it."

"I'll admit one thing: you're annoying."

"Look Li, like I told you, I really think he was just using her to get over you and that obviously didn't work."

"I don't care. I really don't. He can do whatever he wants."

"If you don't care, then why are you so pissed off at him?" Lita said nothing as she continued to drive. "That's what I thought." It was silent the rest of the way other than the noise coming out of the radio that Dawn decided to turn on.

* * *

"What was your favorite part of the Zoo today?" Adam asked. It was just him and Ethan in the living room drawing because Christian was putting Brooke down for bed. There was still some time until Ethan's weekend bedtime.

"I liked the monkeys," Ethan said as he continued to draw. "And when me and Jacob got to ride the pony."

"I thought you were scared?" Adam joked trying to figure out what exactly it was that the little boy was drawing.

Ethan shook his head, looking up at Adam. "I wasn't scared! I liked it! What was your favorite part?"

"Oh, just that I got to spend some time with my favorite person."

"Who's that?" Ethan questioned.

Adam smile down at his son who smiled back after he heard Adam's answer. "You."

"Mommy's my favorite person." It was quiet for a while as Ethan went back to drawing and coloring his picture. "Where's is she?"

"She's with Auntie Dawn somewhere."

"So we're having a sleep over?" Ethan asked looking up from his picture once again.

"I guess you can say that."

"Are you going to read me a bedtime story?"

"If you want, then I will."

"Can we play soccer tomorrow?"

Adam nodded. "Okay. We can go to the park tomorrow and play." Ethan smiled at Adam and then returned his attention back to drawing. He loved when Ethan smiled. Even though Ethan looked more like him than he did Lita, his smile reminded him of hers. It was a smile he hadn't seen in a while. She's been angry with him the past two days, especially today, he didn't understand why. "Do you play football?"

Ethan shook his head. "Mommy said I will get hurt."

"What other sports do you play?"

"Basketball. That's my favorite. Uncle Christian said I'm tall and that's why I beat him. He's short."

Adam chuckled. "I beat him too."

"All done." Ethan held up the picture and gave it to Adam so he could see. "That's you," he pointed to the figure on the left. "That's me," he pointed to the figure in the middle and then he pointed to the one on the right. "And that's mommy."

"Good job." Adam handed the picture back to Ethan who didn't take it and just shook his head.

"That's for you. You keep it."

"Thank you. I love it."

* * *

"Can we leave now?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "No we cannot. We have only been here for half an hour. We haven't danced."

"I don't want to dance."

"Well I do and since you're my dance partner, you have no choice but to oblige."

"I do have a choice. I control myself."

Dawn sighed. "Li, please. We came out to have fun. We had fun at dinner and now it's time to have fun here."

"Why are we even at the club? I haven't been to one in forever."

"Same here. Now we get to see what's changed and have some fun. Anyways, I'll be back. Wait here for me, I'm going to make a quick call to Christian and make sure everything is good."

Lita nodded then turned in the stool she was sitting on at the bar so she was now facing that way. She was staring at her drink in front of her playing with the umbrella that it came with it. "Seems like your friend dragged you here," a voice from in front of her said. She glanced up at the bartender so she could reply to him.

"She sure did. Guess you see that every night, huh?"

He nodded. "I do. Most people come to cheer up their friend who just got out of a break up or for having a horrible day. Most of the time it's guy problems. Didn't realize there were so many jackasses out there."

Lita snorted at that. "Well, there are."

"Guy problems?" He asked.

"I don't think that's any of your concern."

"Chris."

"What?"

"My name's Chris."

"That's nice. I think you have other people who need a drink." She tried to go back to playing with the umbrella and staring at her drink, but Chris wouldn't let her.

"I told you my name, I think it's only fair if you tell me yours."

She rolled her eyes as she looked back up at him. "Christine," she replied with giving him her middle name instead of her first.

"Chris and Christine. There's a nice ring to that."

"No there's not," she interrupted him.

He ignored her. "Christine, how about giving me your number." She laughed at him. "A straight 'no' would have been fine."

Lita calmed down after a bit. "I'm sorry, but do you hit on every woman that comes here? New girl every night?"

"Only the redheaded ones."

"Not the blondes?"

He smirked. "I go for the feisty ones."

She let out another laugh. "You're so lame."

"What is this?" She heard from her right side before Chris could say anything, Dawn was back. "Lita looks happy? Is this real?"

Lita rolled her eyes as she turned her attention to her friend. She was about to say something until, "I thought you said your name was Christine."

"She lied. That's her middle name," Dawn spoke up before Lita could, taking a seat on the stool she abandoned not too long ago. "Her name is Lita."

"Lita. Hm, I like that one better than Christine."

"I thought Chris and Christine had a nice ring to it," she mocked his earlier statement.

"I thought it didn't," her mocked her back.

Lita rolled her eyes. "Okay, my friend is back. Thanks for you time, but you should probably get back to work."

"You still haven't given me your number."

"Well, I don't give my number out to strangers." She tried not to yelp when she felt Dawn kicking her on her leg. "Do you want to die?" She glared at her friend.

"Um, would you excuse us just one second? Move over there somewhere. One moment. Please." Chris looked at Dawn like she was crazy, but did as he was told and started to pay attention to the other patrons looking for drinks. "Give him your number," she demanded Lita who gave her a look like she was crazy and out of her mind.

"No."

"Li-"

"Dawn, I don't know him. I'm not giving a random guy my phone number."

"Well, like I told Christian, we're here to find you a man. That bartender seems like a nice guy. He even made you laugh."

"And like I told you, I'm not looking for anyone right now."

"Five years ago was the last time you had a real relationship. Don't you think it's time to move on."

"I have Ethan to think about. I can't just date random guys."

"I'm not saying introduce them to Ethan. Just have some fun. Get to know some guys. Hell, don't date them if you don't want, make some friends and then maybe one day it can turn into something more if you want."

"Yea, well last time I did that it didn't turn out to well." Dawn bit her lip trying to keep herself from saying something she shouldn't say at all. "Well, he moved on, why can't I?" Dawn had to bite her lip again from saying that Adam didn't move on and that he tried to but failed. She knew that if she said that, Lita probably wouldn't give her number to Chris like it looked like she was about to do.

"Bartender, we need another drink," Dawn called over Chris.

"So?" He asked Lita.

It took her a while, but she said what he was looking for. "You got a pen and a paper?" He smiled at that and gave her a pen and paper to which she wrote down her number for him.

* * *

"I'm so drunk right now," Dawn giggled after another two hours.

"We both are," Lita joined her in the giggling.

"How are we going to get home? We can't drive."

The duo didn't plan on drinking much, if at all, but that went out of the window when Lita couldn't stop thinking about Adam and his little whore she heard about and thought she needed to drink her thoughts away. "Call Christian. He'll get us."

"Good idea." Dawn tried opening her purse, but it was a bit hard for her as she couldn't get a hold of the zipper. Lita took the purse from her and opened it on her third try. Dawn dialed her husband's number.

"Where are you two?" Christian answered the phone.

"I don't know," Dawn giggled. "Some club." She glanced at Lita who was having a giggling fit of her own. "What's this place called?"

"I don't know."

"Oh I got it!" Dawn yelled in the phone which made Christian wince. "Blue Martini!"

"You both are drunk?"

"Yes!" Lita shouted into the phone with the two women continuing their giggling fest.

He simply shook his head. He knew they went out to have some fun, but he just didn't think they would get drunk, not that he minded much. He was taking care of Brooke anyways and he thought Dawn did deserve some time by herself. Well, with Lita. "I'll send Adam to come get you two. You know Brooke won't sleep without one of us."

"Aw! How's my Brookie doing?"

"Much better than what mommy's going to be doing soon. Have fun dealing with the hangover."

"You totally just killed my buzz."

"Mine too," Lita pouted.

"Just stay there, Adam will be coming soon." Christian shook his head after he hung up the phone. He went over to the other room where Adam and Ethan were in. Ethan was sleeping, but Adam was still up. "Just got a call from Dawn. They're both really drunk. Could you get them? I can't leave Brooke. Don't worry, I'll be here for Ethan."

Adam nodded. "Where?"

"Blue Martini. It's a twenty minute drive from here."

"If they're both really drunk, then I'll just take them to my house so Brooke and Ethan don't have to be subjected to watching their mommy's act a fool and puking their guts out tomorrow morning."

"Good idea."

* * *

"I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world," Dawn sang.

"Life in plastic, it's fantastic!" Lita continued for her. The two woman were now sitting in the back of Adam's car. He got there in fifteen minutes since there wasn't much traffic one in the morning.

"You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere!"

"Barbie's a slut!" Lita giggled not continuing with her part of the song. Adam groaned in frustration, they've been repeating the same dialouge for the past few minutes. First they sang some Spice Girls song, and now they were obssessed with sining 'Barbie Girl.'

"Yes she is!" Dawn joined Lita with the giggles

Adam groaned once again. "Can we try to keep it down back there?" He was getting sick and tired of listening to the two singing that song over and over again. He just wished they would shut up.

"NO!" Lita stuck her tongue out at him. Adam rolled his eyes, but said nothing as he continued to drive to his house.

* * *

Lita woke up the next day to a pounding headache. She looked around her and saw she was in an unfamiliar bathroom. She looked over to her left side and saw Dawn was passed out on the floor like she was not too long ago. Looked like they both fell asleep in the bathroom last night. _Ugh, last night, _Lita thought as she brought her hands up to her head. She never drank like that in her life before and was for sure Dawn hadn't either. _Never again. _She wondered where they were since this bathroom didn't look familiar to her at all. She got up and washed her face. She was about to leave until she heard Dawn get up.

"Damn it! We are never drinking like that again."

"I concur. Where are we?"

Dawn washed her face as well and the two left the bathroom. "Adam's house," she answered as she took in everything around her.

Lita froze in place. "Why are we at his house?"

"Because you two were drunk of your ass and I came to pick you up from the club. I didn't think it would be a good idea to take you back to Dawn's house since the kids are there. You two were so damn loud, it's a good thing I didn't take you back there. You would have woken them up and they could have seen how crazy their mom's are. I think you should save that for later when it scars them less."

Lita rolled her eyes. "Shut up. Let's go. I want to get Ethan and go home. But we have to get my car first."

"Hold that thought," Dawn said, "I have to puke," she ran off towards the bathroom again.

"What?" Lita asked after a while. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You were really drunk last night. You do that often?"

"Not that it's any of your concern, no."

"Actually, I think it is my concern if you decide to go crazy like that when you have Ethan-"

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Lita interrupted him. "Are you accusing me of being an unfit mother just because of last night? Moms are allowed to have fun. And it's not like I do this every night. Just one night out of the many I have been a mother. I made sure he was in good care. I left him with Christian."

"Actually, you left him with me."

Lita shook her head. "No. I left him with you and Christian. I said I left him in good care, good care as in Christian."

"Remind me again, were you always a bitch?"

Lita gave him a fake smile. "No. You just make me this way."

Adam was about to say something, but he was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. He thought it was his and Lita said nothing since she didn't know it was hers, he grabbed the phone that was on coffee table in the living room and answered it. "Hello?" He immediately frowned and looked pissed off when he heard the person from the other end speak. "She's busy, she'll call you back later." With that said, he hung up the phone.

"Was that my phone?"

He nodded. "I thought it was mine."

"And you told the person I'm busy?" He nodded again, she just shook her head, she wanted to slap him. "And why would you do that? What if it was important?"

"Who's Chris?" He asked ignoring her.

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't remember meeting him last night?"

Lita thought about last night and then remembered. "Oh him. Why? It was him? Why did you tell him I was busy?"

"Hooking up with random guys now?"

"What's it to you?"

"I don't want you to bring random guys around my son."

Lita laughed humorlessly. He had to be joking. "Do you really think I'm that fucking stupid that I would do that?! I would never introduce Ethan to someone I just met! And it's none of your damn business who I talk to!" Her voice was getting more and more louder with every word. She was pissed off at him and he knew it, he just didn't care.

"I thought you weren't going guy hunting last night."

"And this affects you because...?"

"I didn't say it does."

"Then stop acting like it!" She was about to leave it at just that, but she couldn't help it. "How's Whorrie? Sorry, I meant Torrie."

Adam couldn't believe what he just heard. How did she know about Torrie? "I don't know. I'm haven't talked to her for a year now."

"So what?" Her voice was a bit calm now, but she was still angry. "Did you leave me so you can go and find some bimbo to play with?"

"How did you even know about her?"

"I have my ways."

"Dawn told you." That was more of a statement than a question.

"I have my ways," she repeated once again which to him seemed like a confirmation that Dawn did let it slip about Torrie. "So is that why you left? Did I bore you that much that you had to go find some bimbo on the other side of the country?"

"Why does it matter to you if I did move on? Jealous?" He ignored the first part of her question.

She snorted. "No," she lied. She knew she was jealous which made her hate him for moving on even if it didn't work out. "Are you jealous of Chris?"

"It's not like you're my girlfriend anymore and it's not like you're even seeing him."

"Well, he did call me. So maybe this could be the start of something." He knew she was doing this to get to him, unfortunately for him and fortunately for her, it was working.

_Uh oh,_ Dawn thought to herself. She was actually listening to the two from behind the wall in the hallway. She heard their whole conversation. She could tell Lita would agree to go out on a date with Chris if he asked her just so she could make Adam jealous. And by the expression on his face, she knew it was working already. _They were fine until she found out about Torrie. Why did I have to open my big mouth?_

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews. Wasn't that fun? ;)**

**I just wanted to say I will not be updating this particular story until after I updated my other stories which I will work on after I submit my last paper of the semester (dec. 20th... yay! Semester is almost done with!). So the next update will probably be in January unless I get really lazy during winter break.**

**Hope y'all have a great Christmas for those who celebrate it. I don't celebrate it, but it happens to be my birthday that day, so yay for that! Anyways, Happy Holidays! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

A week had gone by since Adam and Lita's little- or maybe not so little- argument. Nothing had gotten better between the two, but at least it hadn't gotten worse either. The redheaded woman had been avoiding the blonde man as much as she could and he just let her be and let her have her time. He didn't understand why she was so angry at him, but he wasn't going to say or do anything to add fuel to that fire. Lita had to admit to herself that she was acting like an immature brat, but that didn't mean she was going to admit it aloud.

Lita was alone in her apartment because it was the first time Ethan was going to stay with Adam. He went to stay with Adam the night before because she actually had to work the night shift at the hospital Friday night. She was off until Monday morning. Well, she was alone until Dawn decided to show up. The brunette hadn't said anything to Lita about her little episode last week... until now.

"So, can we talk about how much of a bitch you were to Adam last week? Specifically Sunday morning." Dawn asked which made Lita glare at her.

"I'm surprised it took you as long as it did to bring that up."

Dawn ignored her as she shifted a bit on the couch. "Why so bitchy lately? Are you PMSing or something?"

"Why so nosy lately?"

"Lately? I'm always nosy."

Lita rolled her eyes. "At least you admit that."

"See, I'm able to admit I'm nosy. It's not hard. Can you admit you were a bitch?"

"Shut up," Lita huffed. She was really annoyed with everything, more so at herself than anyone or anything else. She didn't know why she was letting anything Adam did get to her. That just made her even more irritated with herself.

"Li..."

Lita sighed. "Fine," she conceded, "I was a bitch." She left it at that.

"Why did you have to bring up Whorrie?" That was actually the nickname Dawn had given Torrie. She didn't like the blonde woman at all when she met her. It was obvious to her right away that Adam was just trying to get over Lita. There was no way he could have seen himself have a future with her. If he did, then he was really stupid.

Lita shrugged. "He was getting on my nerves. He was acting like he controls me, which he doesn't. And it kind of just slipped."

It took Dawn a while to say what she wanted to say next because she didn't want to say the wrong thing knowing how angry Lita could get at her. "Okay. I don't think he acted like that, but-"

"I think he did," Lita interrupted before Dawn could continue any further. "I know your nosy self heard the whole conversation."

"No I didn't," Dawn lied even though Lita knew better.

"He had no right to tell Chris I was busy when I sure as hell wasn't," Lita continued after Dawn's little interruption. "Why the hell did he even pick up my phone?"

"Because he thought it was his phone." Dawn rolled her eyes at the 'I knew it' look Lita was sending her way. "Fine, I was listening because, like we already established, I'm nosy. Actually, I was kind of afraid to get in the middle of you two. You two fighting, arguing, whatever, is scary." Lita said nothing, instead opting to find interest in her taking the nail polish off of her nails, so Dawn took this as an opportunity to continue. "Seriously, why are you so pissy towards him?"

"It's fun," Lita said still taking the nail polish off. "You should try it."

Dawn sighed. "Li, can you try being serious?"

"Fine," she finally looked back up at Dawn. "I don't know. It's not something I can control."

"So you are PMSing. Either that or you're jealous."

Lita sighed and rolled her eyes opting to ignore the first statement. "No. Yes. I don't know. It's just... I don't know. If it weren't for Ethan, I wouldn't even talk to him."

"Li-"

"What Dawn? I just... nothing. Whatever."

Dawn took that as a hint to change the topic... sort of. "So, did you call Chris back?"

"And once again, I'm surprised it took you as long as it did to bring that up."

"We already established that. I want an answer. Yes or no?"

"Of course you do," Lita muttered under her breath and continued the next part aloud. "No, I didn't call him, but he did call me again the other day."

"And?" Dawn asked a little too excited if you asked Lita.

"I was getting there before you interrupted me." Dawn arched a brow as to tell Lita to continue. "Um, he asked me out and I said 'no.'"

"What?! Why?!" Dawn interrupted her once again. "He was nice and it seemed like you two could hit it off."

"Calm down. I already told you that I wasn't looking for a relationship. And... and I almost did say 'yes.'"

"Why didn't you then?"

"Because I was acting like a teenager when I almost said 'yes'. I would have only agreed because I wanted to make Adam jealous and I'm not going to use someone for that."

"Like how you felt when you heard about Torrie?" Dawn suggested.

Lita just looked at her friend but said nothing. She really didn't know how she felt. She just knew she wasn't ready for a relationship and wasn't going to jump into something out of spite.

"So how are your headaches?" Dawn decided to change the subject because she knew Lita was not interested in it anymore and didn't look like she was going to continue talking about Adam. "Are you feeling better?" She knew that her headaches were back and she wasn't feeling well again lately.

Lita frowned at the thought of that. "Still here. All the damn time. It's been like two months, I think it's just stress headaches or something. No big deal. At least I don't feel like puking all the time. I think that's stress stuff too."

"Hm, if you say so." And then she added something else with a smirk. "If I didn't know you were single and didn't sleep around, I'd think you were pregnant." Lita rolled her eyes at that. "You and Adam didn't-"

"Shut up!" Lita interrupted glaring at her friend. Dawn got a little laugh out of that.

"You're going to the doctors," That was more of a demand than anything.

"For headaches?"

"Yes. You need to get them checked out just in case."

Lita rolled her eyes. "It's probably just sinuses like it was last time. Nothing to worry about."

"Then, go to the doctor and find out. I'm not taking no for an answer. If you don't go yourself, I will drag you."

"Will you leave me alone about it then?" Dawn nodded. "Fine. I'll make an appointment on Monday."

"Great! So what are your plans? First night without Ethan and you're not at work."

"I know. I rather be at work."

"Why?" Dawn asked. "It's a good thing you don't have the night shit tonight. Enjoy you're alone time. Speaking of," Dawn smiled as she picked up the bag off from the floor that she brought with her when she came to visit Lita, "here."

"What is that?" Lita asked as she eyed the bag.

"Open it and you can find out," Dawn said as she held out the bag to Lita who still didn't accept it. "Fine," Dawn rolled her eyes and sat the bag down on the couch beside her. "This," she said pulling out a set of books, "is for you to read since you're alone and actually have time."

Lita immediately rolled her eyes when she saw the trio of books in Dawn's hands. "I told you I wasn't interested in reading these books. Don't want it to be a repeat of _Twilight_ all over again. And then you dragged me to all of the movies."

Dawn rolled her eyes in return. "Well, I promise you'll like these! This is for later," she said as she handed the trilogy of the _Fifty Shades of Grey _books to a reluctant Lita who took them from her and sat them down on the table in front of them. "And I'm so dragging you to the movies when they come out."

"Great," Lita started to mutter sarcastically. "I can't wait."

Dawn ignored her. "If you don't want to read books, then you can watch _Scandal _on Netflix. I'm telling you, it's so good. I'll give you my long-in stuff if you need it." She then turned her attention back to the bag. "This" she said after she pulled out the item out of the bag, "is for when I leave." She handed her a bath gift basket for which she could use for, well, a bath. "Take a relaxing bath and then you can read the books or watch _Scandal_. I know you want to read the books though." Lita simply rolled her eyes at that, but said nothing. "This is for later, or you can have a glass while you're relaxing in the bathtub," Dawn said after she pulled out a bottle of wine from the bag.

"Thanks, you didn't have to, but thanks. I appreciate it." Lita smiled at her friend and the nice gestures she planned for her.

"The bag isn't empty," Dawn continued pulling out something else. "Chocolate! Chocolate and wine, perfect combo."

"Reminds me of college."

"Midterms and finals week," Dawn finished for her. "Both chocolate and wine are the same exact kind we used to eat and drink during midterms and finals and when we used to bitch and whine and complain about boys and everything else."

"Aw," Lita pouted. "Now I'm supposed to do this alone? Join me. Just for a bit before you have to go."

"Deal. It's five thirty, I'll leave at six. But the wine really was for you after you got out the bath."

Lita shrugged as she got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen area. "A little change of plans." Lita got out two glasses and walked over to the living room area again and poured some wine for herself as well as for Dawn who opened up the box of chocolate. The two women then spending the next half hour reminiscing about the past.

* * *

Adam was glad that Lita let him keep Ethan with him over the weekend while she worked, she usually left Ethan with Dawn and Christian when she had to work overnight. She could have taken him back that morning when she came back from her shift, but she actually agreed to let him keep Ethan for the rest of the weekend without him having to fight for it. He was glad she easily agreed because he was sick and tired of arguing with her all the time. He sighed as he thought about that because he wanted to talk to her about keeping Ethan for a bit longer than just the weekends since Ethan seemed to be coping well with that. Maybe not right away, but soon enough. He had a feeling their couple of days free of arguing was probably going to end soon.

He took Ethan to a baseball game earlier that day which Ethan seemed to enjoy. It wasn't the little boy's first baseball game though since Christian told him he took Ethan to a couple of baseball games that summer. Ethan seemed to like the home team, the Tampa Bay Rays. Adam wanted to take Ethan to a baseball game and it just so happened it was the last weekend that the Rays would be playing since they didn't make to the post season. It also just so happened that the Toronto Blue Jays, his favorite team, were in town that weekend and he took Ethan to one of the games of the series. He saw how joyful Ethan looked and how much fun it looked like he was having and that in itself, made him happy.

Adam and Ethan decided to visit Christian after the game. Christian was looking after Brooke since Dawn wasn't there for the moment. He told Ethan who asked about her that she actually went to visit Lita. That's when Adam saw a frown on Ethan's face and he told him that he missed her and asked when he was going to see her again. Adam told him he was going to go home tomorrow, but if he wanted, he could take him there right then. But Ethan said he would wait until the next day and he went off to color with Brooke. Well, he colored while Brooke tried to eat the crayons.

He couldn't help but think about the conversation he had with Christian while the two children were coloring.

_Christian noticed how Adam's mood had changed a little bit to an upset state when Lita's name was mentioned. "Why so glum? You were pretty happy until Lita's name was brought up."_

_Adam sighed. "Everything is so messed up between us. I told you about that argument, she's still pretty pissed off at me. I really don't know why. I mean, she hasn't said anything else, but I know her, I know she's still upset."_

_"Well, Dawn kind of heard your conversation with one another and just her own talks with Li, she thinks she's jealous of Torrie."_

_Adam shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't know. Maybe. But, she's not really the jealous type."_

_"Yea, but you left her without telling her anything, so maybe she thinks that you left her for Torrie."_

_"You know that's not true. Not even close."_

_"But she doesn't. When are you going to tell her the truth? That you actually did it to protect her?"_

_"She doesn't want to hear it. Every time I try to bring it up, she says she doesn't care and gets angry."_

_It was quiet for a moment with the two looking at the two children. Christian had to go over to Brooke a couple of times and take some crayons from her because she was still eating them every now and then. He came back and sat down next to Adam and asked him something that was bugging him for a while. "I'm about to ask you something and you have to answer honestly." Adam nodded. "Do you... do you still have feelings for her._

_"I will always care about her no matter what," Adam didn't hesitate in answering._

_Christian nodded and decided to ask him another question. "Do you still love her?"_

_This one was a bit tricky. "Honestly, I don't know. Like I said, I will always care for her, but... I do love her. I will always. Am I in love with her? I don't know. Possibly." Christian looked like he was about to say something else, but Adam interrupted him before he could say anything. "Can we just change the topic. This isn't something I really want to talk about."_

_"Okay." The duo started to talk about other things until Adam decided it was time for him and Ethan to leave about half an hour later. Dawn came back before they left and he really wanted to ask her how Lita was doing, but he didn't. Christian could tell he wanted to know, so he asked Dawn who said she was good and just missing Ethan. That's when Adam knew it would be a bit hard to convince her to have them figure something out where Ethan would be able to stay with Adam more than just the times when she had to work overnight._

"Did you have fun today buddy?" Adam asked as he got rid of those thoughts out of his head and got Ethan ready for bed after his bath.

"Yes!" Ethan replied with a wide smile with memory of the game. They were actually sitting in an area of the ballpark where Adam's favorite player from the Blue Jays hit a home run. Even though Ethan liked the Rays, Adam let him keep the ball. They even successfully managed to get the players autograph on the ball.

Adam smiled back at him. "I'm glad."

"Mommy says to say 'thank you' when someone does something nice. Thank you." Adam simply smiled in return as he tucked Ethan into bed. Ethan started giggling when he started to think about something else.

"What's so funny?" Adam questioned. "I want to laugh too."

"Mommy took me to baseball games sometimes. She is funny when she watches."

Adam knew that was the truth. Lita got so into it whenever she watched her own favorite team, the Atlanta Braves. They probably went to a Rays and Braves game when she was 'funny'. Adam always told her she was really crazy when she watched them. They actually went to two of the three games in a Braves and Blue Jays series when they visited her mom in Atlanta a month before he left. The Blue Jays won both games they went to. She was in a pissy and sour mood with him for a the rest of the day after the second game just because of that. She even accused him of putting a curse on the Braves. Even she realized how crazy that sounded after a while. He wanted to go to at least one of the Braves and Rays game when they played later that season in Tampa, but that was after he left, so that was impossible.

"So what story should I read you today?"

Ethan thought about it for a moment before he thought of something he thought would be better. "How did you meet mommy? I asked her once, but she said next time, but we always forget." He asked her when he started to ask her questions about if he had a dad and who he was. She wanted to answer all of his questions, but it hurt her to answer any of them. She was waiting for when it wouldn't hurt much, but she didn't think it was fair to Ethan. She just hoped he would understand one day.

"You want that as a bedtime story?"

Ethan nodded. "Please."

"Okay," Adam agreed as he started to tell Ethan the gist of it.

_*Flashback- May 2005*_

_Adam just got off of the phone with Christian once he arrived outside of the restaurant, The Lodge. The other man told him that him and Dawn were running late and he should just head inside and wait for them at the bar and then they would go to the table when they were all there. He also told Adam that he wasn't sure if Lita was there or not yet. Adam was about to ask what she looked like so he could introduce himself if she was already there, but he could hear Dawn from behind telling Christian to hang up and hurry and some other stuff he couldn't make out._

_He shut his phone and put it in his pocket before he got out of his car and walked towards The Lodge. He walked in and went over to the bar part of the restaurant as he waited for his best-friend and his best-friend's girlfriend. Christian and Dawn had been in a relationship for five months. And for some reason, they set up this dinner as a way to for him to meet Lita, Dawn's best-friend, and vice versa. He didn't know why they had to meet one another. Christian claimed that since Adam joined him down in Tampa two months ago, he hadn't really met any new people other than those at work and this was a way for him to meet new people even though it would just be Lita since he already met Dawn._

_"Ugh!" He heard someone who sat down next to him at the bar groan. He looked over and saw it was some random woman with red hair. He liked that color and it looked really good on her._

_"You okay?" Adam asked her._

_"Fine, perfectly fine." Lita turned her attention to him and then realized something. "Sorry, I shouldn't be taking my frustration about my lovely best-friend out on you."_

_"Want to talk about it?" He suggested since he had nothing better to do._

_"Why?" She questioned giving him a funny look._

_He shrugged. "Well, I'm waiting on my friends and I don't know about you, but you don't seem to be with anyone, so it's a way to kill time."_

_"Right," she nodded. "Well, I don't really think you want to hear a random person complain about her annoying and pushy yet loving best-friend."_

_Adam chuckled. "I asked, so go for it. Sounds interesting."_

_"Okay then. Well, basically I'm supposed to meet my friend and her boyfriend here for dinner and for some reason they- wait, no- she wants me to meet his friend. Like why? She says 'Oh Lita, he just came from Toronto, he should meet new people.' And why do I have to be the new person he meets? Her boyfriend has a lot of other people that he knows from work and wherever else. So like why can't he meet them?" Adam was thinking he should introduce himself now, now that he knew this is Dawn's friend, but she wasn't slowing down anytime soon. "I know Dawn. She has an ulterior motive behind this. She has an ulterior motive behind everything and I do not appreciate it. I know she's trying to set me up with him and I'm not interested. Sure, we could be friends, I guess. But I don't want nor need to be in a relationship." She paused for a second so he was about to open his mouth to introduce himself, but she started to speak once again, looking away. "And she claims that's not what she's doing, but she forgets I know her so well. She even said, 'Sweetie, make sure you look nice today.' She even told me to wear this one outfit she brought for me specifically because she thinks- her words, not mine- that I look very 'hot' in it. And obviously, I didn't wear it. So not my type. And I ask her why and she says, 'Well, you never who you'll run into.' Bullshit. I totally know her. She knows I hate setups. The last time she did that, I almost killed her. He turned out to be an annoying creep." She looked back at Adam, taking a much needed breath after she finished. "Sorry, I didn't meant to bore you and complain like that. I never really complain to people I don't know, but Dawn makes me super crazy!"_

_Adam couldn't help it as a smile formed on his face. "I'm Adam. Christian's friend, Adam."_

_Lita winced. She just told Adam how she didn't really want to meet him and she didn't know why she was being forced. "Oh. Um, sorry. I just-"_

_"It's okay." He waited a beat before he added the next part. "You really think she's trying to set you up with me?"_

_"Oh God," Lita groaned. "Pretend I didn't even say anything."_

_"It's okay. I've met Dawn a few times. I know how she can be a little-"_

_"-On the crazy side." Lita finished for him. He nodded. "So, why did you move to Tampa from Toronto?"_

_"Christian moved down here because he found a job down here and we always talked about moving down to the states."_

_"Like it so far?"_

_"I guess. Weather's better."_

_"I bet."_

_"Ever been?"_

_She shook her head. "Nope."_

_"So, where are you from?"_

_"Atlanta, Georgia. Moved down here with Dawn after high school."_

_"How long have you two known one another?"_

_"Um, since we were eight. She moved down from New Jersey when her father got relocated. How about you? How long have you known Christian."_

_"We went to preschool together."_

_"Wow."_

_"Good, you've met already," the duo heard a familiar voice from behind them. They turned around to see both Dawn and Christian. "We're here so we can get a table now."_

_"Sorry we are late," Dawn started to say trying to hide the grin on her face. She was super happy it looked like Adam and Lita were getting along well. "Got held up with traffic."_

_Lita rolled her eyes at Dawn as the four were being led to the table. Lita pulled Dawn a little closer to her and moved over to the side while the two males were walking ahead of them. "I know what you're doing Dawn," she whispered so Dawn could hear and not the other two, even though they were now at the table and the two females were on one side of the restaurant, "And I don't appreciate it."_

_"Fine," Dawn whispered back. "But you have to admit he's gorgeous and you two looked like you were getting a long very well. I can sense a good future for you two."_

_"Oh my God Dawn! We just met. Calm down."_

_"So you think he's cute?" Dawn asked ignoring Lita's statement._

_Lita rolled her eyes as she started to walk again towards the table where the two males were already. "He has a pretty cute smile."_

_Dawn stopped Lita in her tracks and turned her around so she was facing her, a big smile on her face. "Oh my God! You totally noticed his smile!"_

_"You're crazy. So what? That doesn't mean anything."_

_"I'm just saying. That's great! Oh my God! We could go on double dates all the time! It would be so much fun!"_

_"You really need to calm down. They're waiting, so let's go." The two then started walking back to the table again. "Sorry," Lita said as she sat down at the round table in between Dawn and Adam. "Dawn's a little crazy, as you two probably know." The brunette stuck her tongue out at the redhead who simply rolled her eyes._

_The rest of the evening went well. Lita found out that Adam worked as an accountant at some bank. He found out she was in school working on getting her Master's in nursing while she was working at Tampa General Hospital. He cracked a joke that she couldn't get into medical school and become a doctor. She told him that joke was old and that he should find a new one. All in all, they got along pretty well. Dawn was surprised she didn't have to force Lita to give her number to Adam or demand Christian to tell Adam to ask Lita for her number. Lita thought Dawn looked like a little kid at a candy shop when Adam asked Lita for her number. She almost said 'no' just to see Dawn's reaction, but she liked Adam and thought he could be a good friend so she easily wrote in down for him. Within a week, Adam called her and asked her out on a date to which she accepted. She initially wasn't going to accept because she didn't know him well, but Christian did so she was sure he wasn't an ax murderer or something. Dawn bragged to her about how she knew she would end up dating Adam and she was right when she tried setting them up. Lita had told her to shut up and that she was lucky that she was interested in at least being friends with him so she wasn't going to say 'no' just to make a point to the brunette._

_*End of Flashback*_

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**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews. I have mixed feelings about this chapter, but I've been working on it on and off ever since the last update and I don't know how to make it better. Anyways, hope y'all actually enjoyed it.**

**Happy New Year!**

**P.S. I really hate ****_Fifty Shades of Grey._**** I do NOT recommend it because it sucks. I read like less than half the book before I totally gave up on it. Tried to give it another shot b/c my bestie loves it and recommended it, but nope, it's horrible. At least in my opinion.**


	10. Chapter 10

Lita was driving to Adam's house late afternoon the following Saturday so she could pick up Ethan. Ethan asked her earlier that day before they would have headed out for an errands filled day if he could spend sometime with Adam instead. That upset her because it felt like he wanted to spend all of his time with his dad instead of her. She called Adam and asked him if it was okay if she dropped Ethan off because he wanted to spend some time with him. Adam said he had a couple of errands to run, but Ethan was more than welcome to join him. Lita then told Ethan who said he still wanted to go with Adam who then picked up Ethan since he was already out the house.

She heard her phone ring and she glanced at it to see who it was. Dawn. She answered the phone and put it on speaker before she placed the phone on her lap. "Hey."

"Hey missy," Dawn replied. "Why can't I hear you the right way?"

"Because I'm driving. So what's up?" Lita asked as she continued to drive. There was still about ten minutes left before she would get to Adam's house. It was weird for her to go to his house, but she never went inside the two times she actually went, instead calling Adam when she was outside his house to tell him to come out and bring Ethan to the car. There was only one time she actually went inside his house which was two weeks ago, but that was involuntary since Adam was the one who took her and Dawn there and she had no recollection of it until the next morning when she asked Dawn where they were.

"Where are you going?" Dawn asked from the other end of the line.

"Adam's house."

The brunette smirked. "Oooh, for what? A secret hot rendezvous?" She could sense the redhead glaring on the other end of the phone which caused her to smirk even more.

"You're an idiot. For many reasons. If it were a secret, then why would I tell you? Hold on." Lita paused for a moment so she could take a turn at a busy intersection. She always hated taking a turn there. "I'm picking up Ethan."

"He's there again?"

Lita sighed. "Yea, he is. He actually asked me if he could spend some time with Adam. The both of us promised him that he could see Adam when he wanted to so I just couldn't say 'no' to him even though I wanted to. But then I thought that he'll be bored with me dragging him around all day, so I'll let him go to Adam. But the thing is that Adam told me he had stuff to do today as well. So it's like he rather be bored with his father than me."

Dawn could sense the dejection in her friends voice and that upset her. "Li, he's just trying to get to know his dad. Is that such a bad thing?"

"No, but it seems he wants to spend all his free time with Adam. It's like he doesn't want to be around me anymore."

"You know that's not the truth. Like I said, he's just trying to get to know his father. That doesn't mean he's forgetting about you or that he loves you less."

"I know. I've tried telling myself that multiple times, but I just can't help it. It's like I'm waiting for him to tell me he wants to move in with Adam."

"Li, that's not going to happen."

"But I can't help but think it will. I don't want to lose him. He's my life."

"I know sweetie, but you won't lose him."

"I know Adam is his dad so they both deserve to have time together, but this is hard for me. I feel like I am losing him." It was quiet for a moment because the brunette didn't know what to say and the redhead just didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Anyways, why did you call in the first place?"

"Yea, how was your appointment yesterday? You didn't really tell me, you just said that you went. You know I need more details than that if you want me to leave you alone."

Lita rolled her eyes because she knew that was the truth. "Yea, it was fine. She gave me a prescription, which I went to pick up today and these idiots at the pharmacy told me yesterday that I could pick it up at three today but it wasn't even ready at that time. Then they told me to come back at four, and nope, wasn't ready then either. So I sat there for thirty minutes while they got their shit together. Why are people so stupid?"

Dawn chuckled at her friends obvious frustration. "So that's all? She just gave you a prescription?"

Lita bit her lip out of nervousness when she thought what the doctor told her. She was just happy that Dawn couldn't see her right now. "Yup," she lied hoping Dawn couldn't sense it in her voice. The doctor actually told her to do something else as well as take medication, but she didn't want to. She said it would be a waste of time and money because the medicine would work and that's all she needed. The doctor was being persistent, but so was she. So she decided to humor the doctor and said she would, even though both knew she she wasn't going to.

"Okay. Well, what did she say the problem is?" Dawn kept pressing the issue.

"Nothing, just stress related like I told you."

"Okay. That's good that it's nothing horrible." She was glad Dawn brought it.

"Okay look, I'll talk to you later. I'm at Adam's place now. Bye." With that, she hung up the phone only to call someone else. "Hi," Lita responded when Adam picked up the phone. "I'm outside, could you bring Ethan to the car?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you could come inside," Adam replied, "I actually want to talk to you about something."

"We can do that when you bring Ethan. I have to get home, so if you wouldn't mind, please hurry up."

"It would be better if you would actually come inside and talk. It might take a while and I don't really want Ethan to hear."

"Well, then it's okay if you leave him inside the house. You don't have anything dangerous lying around, do you?'

"Um, no."

"Great, then come out and we'll talk on the porch."

Adam raised a brow on the other end. "Why do you always avoid coming inside?"

"Because I want to." She unbuckled her seat-belt and opened the door and started to head towards the porch. "Just come out now." She hung up the phone before he could say anything. He knew how stubborn she was so if she said she wasn't going to come inside, then she wasn't going to, so he too made his way to the porch after he told Ethan to stay put in the living room and get ready because Lita was here to pick him up and he would be back after he talked to her first.

"Hey," Adam said when he got on the porch and saw Lita standing there waiting for him.

"What do you want?" She responded impatiently when she turned around to face him.

He wasn't surprised at all by her tone. He couldn't remember the last time she talked to him without sounding like she was irritated all the time. And he knew that would continue throughout the conversation because she wouldn't like what he was going to say at all.

"You want to sit down first?" He motioned to the chairs on the side.

"Not really. I don't have all day, so could you hurry this up?"

He had to bite his tongue from asking why she was acting like a bitch again. But he didn't want to start that again. He just wanted to have a civil conversation with her. "Okay, just hear me out before you react."

"Oh God," Lita groaned, finally deciding to take a seat on one of the chairs with Adam following suit. "So obviously this is going to piss me off. What is it?"

"As you know, Ethan was fine staying over here last weekend." She nodded, so he continued. "And it seems like he actually likes being around here."

"And? What's your point? Stop beating around the bush and get to it."

"Well, I was thinking that we should probably come up with a better arrangement for Ethan."

"I like this arrangement just fine," Lita interrupted before Adam, who yet again had to bite his tongue from saying something she wouldn't appreciate, could say anything else.

"He has only stayed here once and that too because you had to work overnight. I don't get to see him as much as I want to. Don't you think I should be able to see him more often. Wouldn't you like to have some time to yourself?"

"It's been three weeks Adam. Three weeks that he's known about you. I think you've spent enough time with him for three weeks. And as far as him staying with you more, are you stupid or something? Like I said, he's only known you for three weeks! Do you really think he'll want to stay here with you more?"

"I'm not saying this should happen right away. But either way, I think he's ready for it."

"Well I'm not!" She had enough of this as she got up from where she was seated. She wanted to leave as soon as she could. "I know you stopped thinking about me a long time ago, but this isn't easy for me either!" She calmed down and sighed sitting back on the chair when she realized this wasn't easy for Adam either. He wanted to spend more time with his son and get to know him better. "Okay, that sounded really selfish, but I think I'm allowed that. But, I know this isn't easy for any of us. You want to know Ethan more and you want him to get to know you more. I get it. Ethan probably is ready, but I'm not. This is just as hard for me as it is for you."

"I know. I wasn't expecting you to agree right away. I do want to make sure Ethan is okay with this first, but I want to make sure you're okay with it too. I just want to be a part of his life. I actually want to be able to act like I'm his father."

"You are."

He shook his head in disagreement. "No. It feels like I'm just helping you out. I don't want that. I want equal amount of responsibility. I don't want him just when you're busy. I want him even when you're not. I want this to be an equal thing. I want to set a proper custody agreement. Not something that happens randomly."

"You're going to take me to court?" Lita asked in shock looking up at him.

"No," he answered before she could jump to another conclusion. "We can do come up with an agreement just me and you. We don't need a third party for this. I just think it'll be easier on all of us if we come up with something proper."

"Okay. I see where you're coming from, but you're going to have to be a little more patient with me. I know that's asking a lot, but please bear with me here."

He nodded. "Okay, as long as you do think about this and we can talk about it later and come up with something better."

"Yea. It's only fair to Ethan."

"Thanks." She simply nodded. It was quiet for a moment until she got up from the chair and faced Adam who too was now standing up.

"Could you get Ethan now? We should get going."

"You know you could some inside."

"Just get him." She ignored his statement and he was about to go inside to get Ethan to tell him it was time to go, but he decided to say something else.

"Torrie meant nothing to me. She was just a really great friend and... she was just a great friend in Idaho."

Lita took a deep breath before she answered. Why was he even bringing this up? "I don't care. That's none of my business."

"Then why are you pissed off at me?" Yup, he was going to press that issue. "You were pretty much okay with me until you found out about her."

"My life does not revolve around you and what you did when you were gone. What you did back then, or what you even do now is none of my business. If it doesn't involve Ethan, I really don't care." He was about to say something else until she interrupted him. "Just go get Ethan. Please." He just left it at that and went to do as he was asked. He could tell she was getting angry again but he felt like it was important for him to tell her that Torrie meant nothing more to him other than a friend no matter what his relationship was with her.

"Hey buddy. It's time to go. Your mommy is waiting for you outside. Let's go." Ethan heard him, but didn't get up. "Ethan, she is waiting for you."

"I don't wanna go," Ethan said not looking up from the ground. "I want to stay here with you."

Adam was confused and surprised. He knew this wasn't going to go well if Lita found out what was going on inside. "You can come again another day."

Ethan looked up at his father with sad eyes. "You promise?"

"Of course buddy," Adam said taking a seat next to the little boy. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?" Ethan nodded. "Then why don't you want to go home with mommy?"

"I want to stay with you."

"You don't want to go with her?"

"I want to stay with her too."

"Then what's wrong?" He had a bad feeling he knew where this was going.

"Why can't you live with me and mommy?" Yup, he was right. "Jacob's daddy lives with him and his mommy."

"I know, but... I promise you will understand when you're older." Adam hated the fact that he had to say that to Ethan because he could see he was very upset about this and he deserved a real answer, but there was no way he would be able to understand any of this right now. Ethan didn't say anything after that. "Are you ready to go now?"

"You promise I can come again?"

"Promise."

"You won't ever leave me?"

"No."

"But you weren't here before."

"I know. I'm sorry. But I promise I will never leave you. I love you. Okay?" Ethan nodded. Adam hugged his son before they went off to Lita before the mother-son duo could leave. He grinned when he heard the next words leaving Ethan's mouth. It was the first time he heard those words from his son.

"I love you daddy."

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**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews. Special thanks to mca, justkimmy, Totaldramfan123, kay, alliewash13, and Pinayprincesa.**

**Ugh. I have mixed feelings about this chapter, but it was needed before some other stuff happens so yea. Hope you liked it.**

**I was just wondering, would y'all like to see more flashbacks before Adam left? I know I have only written one after he left, one is coming up in the next chapter and more will follow. But I just wanted to know if y'all would like to see more before he left because I feel like I may be overdoing those and not having enough of those after he left, but I don't want to stop writing them if some actually like them. There is definitely going to be one that leads up to why he left but now's not the time for that. Anyways, if you have a preference, tell me, if not, that's cool. Thanks.**


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